This article is from page 3 of the 2009-09-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 3 JPG
THERE will be champagne corks popping in Ennis this week as the town celebrates being awarded the Tidy Town’s national Largest Urban Centre Award for the second year in succession. The announcement was made at the Royal Hospital in Kilmainham in Dublin yesterday in front of 500 invited guests.
And the Clare capital took home a goody bag of awards to go along with their second national title and a points score of 304 out of a possible 400.
As well as the Largest Urban Centre Award, Ennis took the Regional and County Awards and a prize of €900, the Notice Nature Biodiversity award of €1,000, the Large Urban Centre Gum Litter Task Force award with a cheque for €1,000 and Gold Medal in its population category with prize money of €900.
“Winning this award is a huge achievement for a town the size of Ennis. We are in a highly com- petitive category and beat off tough competition like Letterkenny and Kilkenny. This accolade is testimony to the hard work and commitment of our committee, town council and our fantastic community. Great credit must be given to all those who work tirelessly to ensure our town is look- ing its best,’ stated Noel Crowley, Chairman of the Ennis Tidy Towns.
The adjudication process involved a number of visits to Ennis and all as- pects of the town were judged under a
total of 10 categories including Over- all Development Approach, The Built Environment, Landscaping, Wildlife and Natural Amenities, Litter Con- trol, Waste Minimization, Tidiness, Residential Areas, Roads, Streets and Back Areas and finally the General Impression section. The competition is organised by the Tidy Towns Unit at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and sponsored by SuperValu.
Judges congratulated Ennis on the
overall presentation of the town and had particular praise for the high quality and co-ordination of the various colours and textures in the numerous floral displays and flower- beds around the town and approach roads. The high level of litter con- trol and presentation of residential areas was also noted and the Ennis Sculpture Trail Initiative received high praise. The judges were particu- larly impressed with the presentation of shop fronts and commended the
businesses on their efforts.
The town also earned particular mention in relation to the new En- nis Tidy Towns Website. www.en- nistidytowns.ie which was recently developed and sponsored by Acton BV website design and is seen as an extension of the Ennis Tidy Towns committee. Visitors to the site will find information on the various ac- tivities and initiatives organised by the committee and will also have a greater opportunity to get involved, a
spokeswoman for Ennis Tidy towns explained. “The website is also seen as a window to Ennis for the many potential visitors to the town as it highlights images of the Ennis Sculpture Trail as well as many sce- nic images of the streetscapes.”