This article is from page 58 of the 2012-12-04 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 58 JPG
CLARE was the toast of the national Tidy Towns movement in the mid west on Thursday night last as the county scooped 17 awards at the regional prize-giving ceremony for 2012 at the Old Ground Hotel in Ennis.
Ennis led the way for the county and region by winning the overall award, having already captured the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre at the National Awards ceremony in September. Gold Medal winners in the region were Ennis, Ballynacally and Kilrush.
The winners were presented with their awards by Ms. Jan O’Sullivan T.D., Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and Leonard Fay, Regional Manager with SuperValu, proud sponsors of the competition. Also joining the Minister on stage was Mr John King, Assistant Chief Executive, Shannon Development.
Speaking at the awards ceremony Minister O’Sullivan said: “I’m delighted to have this opportunity today to acknowledge the efforts of TidyTowns groups across this region, and to pay tribute to the very many enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers who get involved in this competition year on year regardless of the weath- er conditions.
“The unselfish effort and the generosity displayed by these volunteers really does make a difference to our communities. The results of their hard work is evident across the region in towns and villages that are more attractive, better cared for, better places to live and more appealing places to visit.
I would like to pay tribute to all the other TidyTowns groups not here today who are also committed to improving their communities year on year and I’m sure they will be providing tough competition to this year’s winners in the future.
“All of the TidyTowns groups take pride in their communities. I’d like to congratulate Ennis; the overall winner for the Mid West region and the winner of Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre Award as well as all of today’s other prize-winners,” she added.
“Tourism is a key economic driver in the Shannon Region economy and it is vitally important that we maximize all our resources to enhance the environment and promote tourism business,” said Shannon Development assistant chief executive John King.
“SuperValu Tidy Towns is a priceless resource, not just for now, but for future generations who want to live, work and spend leisure time in the Shannon Region,” he added.
Clare Winners
National Award IrelandsTidiest Large Urban Centre: Ennis MidWest Region – Overall Winner: Ennis Gold Medals: Ballynacally, Ennis, Kilrush Silver Medals: Mountshannon Bronze Medals: Kilkee,Tuamgraney
County Winners
Winner: Ennis Highly Commended: Ballynacally Commended: Mountshannon Endeavour Award: Connolly
Gum Litter Taskforce
National Award: Ennis Large Urban Centre Award: Ennis Small Town Award: Newmarket-on-Fergus
Tourism Town Awards
Ennis & Ballyvaughan