“We have fought hard to keep gold medal status but the fight against illegal dumping goes on” says Callan
A couple of weeks after Drogheda was judged by the Irish Business Against Litter (IBAL) survey to be among the three most littered towns in the country it has managed to retain its Tidy Towns gold medal status for the 14th consecutive year with a score of 342 points out of a possible 470.
The Drogheda Tidy Towns group responded to the shocking result from IBAL by declaring that they would stand by and let the situation deteriorate and have coordinated with many local stakeholders in the fight back against illegal dumping.
This fightback will involve large scale clean-ups and the group are planning to launch a five-year plan ahead of Christmas which will be open to the public for consultation.
Tidy Towns Chairperson for the past five years, Councillor Kevin Callan, offered his sincerest thanks “..to each and every person who helped with the application and projects that have allowed us to enter the competition this year and to retain our gold medal.”
“The competition, which is not just about litter and dumping but includes community engagement and areas like biodiversity takes a lot of volunteer effort and I appreciate each and every person for their contribution” he added.
“We have an extremely dedicated committee of volunteers and with the support of community groups, schools and residents groups as well as Louth County Council, we will continue to try to improve our score and Drogheda’s performance in this competition”.
The effort to tackle illegal dumping continues this Sunday with the next big clean up at 10.00 am for one hour starting at the shops at Wheaton Hall with groups such as Drogheda Cyclists, Drogheda Chamber and Drogheda BIDS.
If you would like to lend a hand, please PM the group on its Facebook page or text 0877776648.
Some of the scores for villages and towns in the locality (all from a possible score of 470) include:
- Castlebellingham/Kilsaran – 319
- Collon – 304
- Dromiskin – 339
- Dundalk – 344
- Dunleer – 322
- Monasterboice -280
- Sandpit – 219
- Termonfeckin – 266
- Bettystown – 228
- Donore – 239
- Duleek – 259
- Gormanston – 217
- Julianstown – 322
- Laytown – 258
- Oldbridge – 222
- Slane – 324
- Stamullen – 257
Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, announced Ennis, Co. Clare as Ireland’s Tidiest Town for 2021 yesterday.
The announcement was made at a scaled-back event held in the RDS with a small number of representatives present from this year’s entries to the Competition.
The event was streamed live to thousands of Tidy Towns volunteers around the country who were eagerly awaiting the announcement of the winners.
The SuperValu TidyTowns competition has been in existence since 1958 and Ennis, was judged to be the best out of 847 entries to the competition this year.
The announcement was greeted with much celebration and excitement at the awards ceremony at The RDS in Dublin.
On hand to announce the results of the 2021 competition with Minister Humphreys, T.D., was Mr. Ray Kelly, Marketing Director of SuperValu, the competition’s sponsor for the 30th year.
Some of the other big winners on the day included:
- Geashill, Co. Offaly awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Village.
- Abbeyleix, Co. Laois awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.
- Cobh, Cork South awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town.
- Ennis, Co. Clare awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre.
