Coolaney - 322 marks, up 8 on 2016

Once again, Coolaney is the top scorer in Sligo this year. Judges said their remedial work on the few vacant buildings was “first class”, especially the “clever yet simple exterior of the ‘Dutch gable’ structure. The Town Centre Building was “a real success” and the streetscape “is quite breathtaking: but in a remarkably decent way.”

Their GAA pitch, playground and cemetery were praised. Coolaney’s mark under the Green Schools Transport flag is the highest in the county, the schoolchildren, teachers and parents were congratulated.

Credit was given to the volunteers who regularly pick litter during the summer months. Judges asked if there was any way to prevent littering at source. Judges quoted Yeats: “I heard a reed of Coolaney say...’the lonely-of-heart are withered away’...certainly nothing in Coolaney looks as if it is withered away.”

Congrats to the committee and volunteers for placing their town at the head of the county once again.