TIDY TOWNS volunteers across Clare are to be acknowledged for their efforts in improving the aesthetics of towns and villages all over the county.
All Tidy Towns committees in the county are to receive a letter from Clare County Council in appreciation of their attempts to make their area a cleaner and better place to live.
It follows a proposal from Cllr Mary Howard (FG) before Monday’s meeting of the Council asking that the committees be thanked “for their invaluable work within their communities. These volunteers have been keeping their street and roads litter and weed free, planting shrubs, bulbs and flowers, dealing with dumping and graffiti and ensuring their town or village looks its very best each year”.
Speaking on Monday, Cllr Howard described the Tidy Towns competitions as “one of the best” initiatives introduced in Ireland. “It brings communities together, it allows people who are not part of an area to become part of the community”. She added, “I think it is the right time to say thank you to everyone involved in their local community who take pride in the area that they live and what they do”.
When safe to do so, a night should be held to applaud the ongoing work of Tidy Towns volunteers, Cllr Donna McGettigan (SF) believed. She praised the “fantastic work” of the various committees in the past two years which she said was evident in the improvement in results across the county including Ennis taking the national gong. “There is a great sense of pride of place among Tidy Towns volunteers,” the Shannon representative noted.
Results across Clare in the Tidy Towns competition were “very successful” in the eyes of Cllr Pat Daly (FF) who labelled Ennis’ win as “fantastic” for the entire county. “Cormac McCarthy and his team of volunteers gave a huge commitment to cleaning up the town. I saw first hand the community effort,” he added. Daly recently got his hands on the trophy while visiting the home of Margaret Neylon, one of the founding members of Ennis Tidy Towns.
Support for the motion was voiced by Cllr Joe Garrihy (FG) who fully endorsed the suggestion from Cllr McGettigan, “we will be partying night and day when we get together again we’ve so much catching up to do”. The Lisdoonvarna native added, “sometimes we’re too busy to say thank you, this is a very good motion”.
Acknowledgement for the efforts is “hugely important,” Cllr Ann Norton (IND) agreed. The importance of running community schemes becomes evident around the time of Tidy Towns adjudication, Cllr Joe Killeen (FF) felt, “when you pass through a village you can see the commitment of the local Tidy Towns committee”.
“These are all volunteers, it is important they realise they are being acknowledged and appreciated,” Howard concluded.
