Local hero with a tidy agenda to follow
REPORTER DAVID MEDCALF WENT TO BLESSINGTON TO CHAT WITH SUPERVALU TIDY TOWNS HERO JASON MULHALL. CONVERSATION RANGED FROM BOYHOOD IN COOLBOY TO THE 9/11 ATTACKS ON THE USA AND HOW TIDY TOWN IS NOT JUST ABOUT LITTER PICKING
WE commend you for your continuous dedication to your local area, helping to make SuperValu Tidy towns such a meaningful community initiative’. Hurrah! If Jason Mulhall is still basking in the glory of being declared a Tidy Towns hero, then he is hiding his self-regard.
It was a thrill to be in the front row at the Helix, sitting beside his wife, to hear his name called out amidst much applause and congratulation. But he has already moved on in his mind to fresh efforts and new challenges in keeping Blessington on course for greater glory in future.
He is also keenly aware that the honour bestowed on him as an individual should really be shared with a team of comrades in the drive to make their town a better place to live and to visit.
Tidy Towns hero? The phrase probably conjures up an image of an individual out in all weathers scouring the footpaths and ditches for litter. And indeed Jason is well used to the routine of patrolling the streets as one of a squad of volunteers with his trusty picker in hand.
He is quick to point out, however, that litter is only one part – less than one-fifth in the marking system - of what Tidy Towns is about.
There are marks to be earned too for initiatives in areas such as landscaping, biodiversity and sustainability. He also makes it clear that Tidy Towns is a year round frame of mind, not something which pops up only in summer when the competition judges are on patrol.
In Blessington, activity takes place during at least 51 of the 52 weeks on the calendar, with one week off an option around the Christmas/New Year holiday. With the busy N81 national route running along the main street, this is a place which is constantly busy.
It has become a dormitory town for commuters working in Dublin and is a gateway for exploration of the glorious Wicklow Mountains.
The vast reservoir serving the nearby metropolis is on the doorstep, increasingly a focus of recreational activity.
And, though it competes with nearby Naas and Tallaght for business, the town attracts its share of shoppers. As chairman of Tidy Towns, Jason Mulhall needs to be up-to-date on what makes Blessington tick. He pleads guilty to being a blow-in, though he is of impeccable County Wicklow breeding.
One of seven sons in the family of Pat and Eileen Mulhall, the 43 year old hails originally from Coolboy in the south of the county, a dot on the map close (but not too close) to Tinahely and definitely rural. The primary school there was so small that there were just eight children in his year.
After that, Coláiste Bhríde in Carnew, with 23 students in a class, felt like the big smoke.
He captained a winning underage hurling team at Carnew Emmets, by the way, qualifying to play for the club through his mother, whose maiden name is Kilbride.
Handball was enjoyed closer to home, in Coolboy, and Jason also took up soccer as a teenager.
Then he kicked the mud off his boots after sitting the Leaving Cert and headed off in 1994 to DCU where there were 150 classmates on his computers applications course, among a total of 7,000 on the campus.
Choosing an IT related degree proved a canny
decision as there was a queue of employers lined up offering him work on graduation.
He soon settled on to the payroll of Precision Software, later merged with an America concern QAD, and has been with them for two decades.
Asked what it is that he does at work, he speaks of ‘trade logistics compliance’ as though this explains everything.
The joy of it these days is that he can do most of his business at home, with only occasional forays on the bus for appearances at the office in Rathmines. However, Jason was residing full time in Dublin in 1997 when he met wife-to-be Louise, a trainee nurse at St Vincent’s Hospital, on a night out in Temple Bar.
As his personal life changed, so did his career at work as he was recruited to assist in setting up an office in the United States.
So it was that the newly formed couple found themselves swapping the southside in Dublin for an apartment on the 39th floor of a skyscraper in Chicago.
From this lofty perch, close to the landmark Sears Tower, they enjoyed spectacular views of the city with its frenetic traffic away down below their feet.
They hiked around the Michigan countryside, as well as attending top class baseball and basketball fixtures but the craziness of America was never far away.
Eighteen years on, the Coolboy native still speaks vividly of the day the Nine Eleven attacks took place in 2001.
New York and the Pentagon were in the sights of the terrorists but suggestions circulated that the Windy City was also on their agenda.
‘It was a surreal experience,’ he recalls. ‘There were rumours of planes heading for Chicago and the Sears Tower was a prime target.’
Offices all shut down that day and the Irish pair spent the day out on the North Shore beside Lake Superior, ending up that night in an Irish Pub called Fadó.
Chicago was great place to be in many ways but the city logs an average of one gun death each day, so the call of home became louder as they thought of raising a family.
They returned to settle in Blessington where they now reside with their three children, aged from seven up to 13. They picked the town because it is more or less mid-way between Louise’s family home in Walkinstown and Jason’s roots in Coolboy.
She was able to find work in Naas while he had the 65 Bus to take him in to work in Rathmines.
The timing in 2002 was not bad either, purchasing their house amidst the mature trees of Burgage Manor just before prices went Celtic Tiger berserk.
By now they feel completely at home, though Jason struggles to put the appeal of Blessington into words: ‘I has a heritage feel to it. I like the village feel to it too. It is rural and urban at the same time.’
He quickly found himself caught up in local activity, starting with the residents’ association in Burgage Manor dealing with snag lists and grass cutting and persuading the county council to take charge of the road in the estate.
From there he graduated on to the Blessington District Forum where he gravitated towards the ‘environment’ sub-group, which led naturally on to SuperValu sponsored Tidy Towns.
Except that there had been no Tidy Towns in his adopted town for several years.
Rather than work out a grand plan, they dived in at short notice, with a campaign in 2012 which was on the primitive side of basic.
Volunteers took part in a two month litter pick, hauling in bag after bag of rubbish, laying the foundations for a movement which has become increasingly sophisticated.
And with growing sophistication have come steadily increased marks in the annual adjudication.
This year they broke the 300 mark barrier for the first time and Jason reckons they are poised to contend for a bronze medal in 2020.
The report on the 2019 campaign lists some of the projects which have been added to the bi-weekly litter picks.
The adjudicator was impressed by the polishing up of the Downshire Monument with its four stone balls, with the projects undertaken with secondary students, with spring bulb planting, with low energy Christmas lights, with waste minimisation, with Blessington AFC’s plastic free fun run.
The list goes on with reference to a wildlife corridor and nest-boxes for swifts, not to mention replacing throwaway coffee cups with reusable bamboo coffee cups and the ‘Pride in My Estate’ competition won by Ashton.
Jason stresses that marks and competition are only valuable as long as people feel that their lives are better for the effort: ‘Tidy Towns is community – the whole community. It’s about improving your town or village but it is also a competition,’ muses the chairman.
He keeps a keen eye on how other towns around the county, including neighbours Hollywood, are faring in the annual assessment.
There’s a committee in his native Coolboy, who have some catching up to do before they can match Blessington.
He admires Andrew Lawless who presides over the gold winning medal effort in Wicklow Town majoring in sustainable energy: ‘They are six years ahead of us,’ he concedes.
Arklow is also high up the rankings with their walking trails. Perhaps Blessington will be able to match them once the Greenway around the reservoir is opened.
Chairman Jason is joined on the committee by Anita Moroney, Eileen Shirrin, Jean Cleary, Mary Deaton, Noreen Keegan-Kavanagh, Eamon Kelly and Paul Tyrrell.
They acknowledge the backing of Wicklow Council, especially environment awareness officer Jim Callery.
TIDY TOWNS IS COMMUNITY – THE WHOLE COMMUNITY. IT’S ABOUT IMPROVING YOUR TOWN OR VILLAGE - BUT IT IS ALSO A COMPETITION