Village wins Gold Medal in National Tidy Towns
Blackrock retained its gold medal status and also received a Department of the Environment Special Award for Blackrock Park in the 2017 Tidy Towns competition. The village increased its points again, earning a total of 325 out of a maximum of 450. It remains the second highest scorer in the county behind Tallanstown and firmly in the top five per cent of the 859 towns and villages in Ireland who entered the competition.
The adjudicators complimented the local committee on making the most ‘of your stunningly attractive setting for both the community and visitors to enjoy. There is a strong sense that the Blackrock residents are extremely proud of their location. A clean and tidy environment was evident throughout.’
Commenting on the park, the adjudicators said ’is very well integrated into the residential areas and the location of this multi-faceted park is nicely overlooked by surrounding housing, providing a safe environment for children and younger users of the facility.’
John Horan of Blackrock Tidy Towns congratulated everyone in the village who contributed towards this outstanding result, including their hard-working committee members, litter patrollers and other volunteers, the Community Employment Scheme under supervisor Pat Rafferty, Tús scheme workers in the park, the Probation Service, the Park Committee and Park Volunteers, residents associations in the various housing estates, private residents, Blackrock businesses, Louth County Council management and staff, and all sponsors including Haggardstown Garden Centre, Tiernan’s Centra, Rock Cabs and Mace.
‘It is a huge achievement for Blackrock to be awarded a gold medal again this year, and every single person in the village can feel justifiably proud’, said John. ‘We are very fortunate indeed to have such co-operation from the residents, businesses and all organisations in Blackrock because this could not have been achieved through the efforts of Tidy Towns alone. I want to reiterate the absolutely critical role our most dedicated CE Scheme played in all this, and would also like to congratulate our colleagues in all the other towns and villages in the county on their achievements in the competition.’ he added.