The results of the 2006 Tidy Towns competition were announced by Minister of State Batt O’Keefe at a function in Dublin Castle on Monday, 4th September, 2006. Over 700 neighbourhoods, villages, towns and cities competed in the competition, and the overall winner, with 295 points, was Westport, Co Mayo, which is in the Large Town category [population 5,000-15,000].
A new category Large Urban Centre [population >15,000] has been added this year, and Ennis was the winner with 288 points. Letterkenny has been included in this new slot and was a close second to Ennis with 287 points.
North West Region Award Glenties 293
County Donegal Award Glenties 293
Highly Commended Letterkenny 287
Commended Malin 283
Supervalue Endeavour Donegal Town 235
Wildlife Award Swan Park Riverside Walk, Buncrana
Gaeltacht Award Carraig Art
Bronze Medal Malin 283
Gold Medal Letterkenny 287
Gold Medal Glenties 293
This was good news all round for County Donegal. Great encouragement has been given to Carraig Art, Donegal Town and Buncrana, while seasoned veterans Malin, Glenties and Letterkenny have held on to their high standards.
Malin won in 1970 and again in 1991 and received a Bronze medal this year.
It is great to see Glenties winning the North West Award, and a Gold Medal, and seeing off rivals in Sligo, Leitrim, Monaghan and Cavan. The achievements of the Glenties Tidy Towns committee put Donegal on the map by winning the overall national award for the first three years of the competition [1958-1960] and again in 1962 and 1995. This year they were just 2 points behind the national winner, Westport.
Clearly Letterkenny is knocking at the door. The Chairman of Letterkenny Tidy Towns Committee, Jim McCormack, is delighted that Letterkenny has been awarded the prestigious Gold Medal four years in a row. It is difficult competing in this Large Urban Centre category against the likes of Ennis and Kilkenny but Jim is adamant that one more push is needed to secure the top prize. His focus next year will be on unfinished roadworks that give an untidy appearance to the town. With all the building and development that is currently going on in Letterkenny he will obviously be setting his sights on the Town and County Council road improvement schemes as well as on private developments.
The achievements of the Tidy Town Committees in Donegal deserve the highest praise. Apart from winning two Gold Medals, one Bronze Medal and the North West Regional Award they are setting a standard for every town, village and local community in the county to aspire to. This can only be good for everyone because it improves the physical environment for all our citizens and builds confidence in our communities. But we should do more than say congratulations, we should get behind them and give them that extra bit of support which will tip the balance in favour of even greater success next year.
Jim Holohan
Director of Water Environment & Emergency Services
Donegal County Council
5th September, 2006