Co Mayo's Westpoint Named Ireland's Tidiest Town

Westpoint in County Mayo has been named Ireland's Tidiest Large Town at this year's SuperValu TidyTowns awards for the North West and West region.

The awards were presented at a prize-giving ceremony in Castle Leslie in Glaslough, Monaghan, by Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, TD, and Eoghan Jones, SuperValu Regional Manager, long time sponsors of the competition. Also joining the Minister on stage was Colm Breheny of Fáilte Ireland.

At the ceremony, Minister Humphreys spoke of the grant scheme, recently announced by the Minister for Rural and Community Development, Michael Ring TD, which will enable TidyTowns committees to apply for a grant of between €1,000 and €4,000.

Minister Humphreys said: "I am delighted to be in a position to attend the awards on behalf of Minister Ring and encouraged committees to avail of the €1.4 Million in grant funding recently announced by his Department to assist committees in preparing for the 2019 competition."

Minister Humphreys went on to say: "Generations of communities have volunteered with TidyTowns to make our country a place we can all be proud of. I have nothing but admiration for the volunteers here tonight and across the country and this grant scheme is recognition from the Government of the huge contribution made by committees to their community. "

Minister Humphreys added: "It is fantastic to have the opportunity, this evening, to meet TidyTowns groups from across the North West and West region. These awards are just a small reward for the efforts of so many volunteers who take pride in their home town and work tirelessly to make it a better place now and for future generations. This unselfish effort and the generosity displayed by these volunteers makes a huge difference in our communities. We also recognise all the other TidyTowns groups not here today who are equally committed to improving their community year on year but have not achieved formal recognition in the competition this year, – well done to you all on the work you do and we hope to see you here with us next year."

The Minister continued: "I want to also give a special mention to Glaslough – congratulations on winning the Regional title and being named as Ireland's Tidiest Village for 2018 – and also to all of today's other prize-winners."

The Minister also thanked TidyTowns' main sponsor SuperValu: "For 27 years SuperValu, as the main sponsor of the TidyTowns Competition, has been involved in this competition at local and national level. SuperValu has helped the competition to flourish and grow and continues to demonstrate a real commitment to supporting local communities and have worked closely with Department officials to help make it the success it is today."

Eoghan Jones, SuperValu Regional Manager said: "2018 marks the 60th anniversary of SuperValu TidyTowns, with close to 900 committees entering and 12 new committees getting involved for the first time this year. I would like to thank all of these new SuperValu TidyTowns committees for getting involved during the 60th year of the competition. It goes to show that SuperValu TidyTowns is a unique initiative, there is no other competition like it in the rest of Europe, thanks to the commitment of volunteers, committees and SuperValu retailers.

"The competition has had a huge benefit across Ireland for the past 60 years, and this year was no exception, with SuperValu TidyTowns committees building greenways, eradicating plastic straw use and delivering heritage projects, while bringing people from all ages and backgrounds together to build thriving, sustainable communities. We are delighted to have been involved in the TidyTowns competition for the past 27 years and look forward to continuing to work with communities in the coming years."

Interest in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition has been stronger than ever in recent years with a record 883 communities entering the competition in 2018. The competition has been running since 1958 and is organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The competition has been sponsored by SuperValu since 1992.

(MH/CM)