Louth Looking Good Awards reward civic pride

The Fairways Hotel was the venue for the recent Louth Looking Good Awards ceremony which acknowledges and rewards dedicated volunteerism, civic pride, environmental responsibility and the pride that Tidy Towns groups and residents’ associations show in their towns, villages and housing estates.

Attendees were reminded that the same dedication and hard work is delivering outstanding outcomes as was recognised at the recent National Tidy Towns Awards Ceremony where the Wee County delivered big results bringing home four Gold Medals, two Silver Medals, one Bronze Medal, Runner Up in a National Special Award with praise lavished on the team in Blackrock for the village being named  Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town 2024.

Those in attendance were then treated to a viewing of a video produced by Ken and Aine Finegan from Newspics which verified beyond doubt that Louth is not just looking good but is looking great.

Cathaoirleach of Louth County Council, Independent Councillor Kevin Callan was on hand to add his thanks to the volunteers for the huge amount of work carried out on an ongoing basis and to confirm the commitment of the elected members to support tidy towns development in the county.

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Councillors Paula Butterly, Pearse McGeough, Shane Mc Guinness, John Sheridan, Antoin Watters and former Councillor Liam Reilly were also in attendance to add their support and present the awards they had generously sponsored.

Councillors Emma Coffey and Kevin Meenan, who were unable to attend, were also thanked for their sponsorship as were loyal and new corporate sponsors Greenore Port, V & W Recycling, Glassco Recycling, Matthews Coach Hire, Drogheda Credit Union, O’Neill’s Flowers, Alison Quail Solicitors and FESP.

Partnership was also very much the focus of the address by Temporary Chief Executive Joe Mc Guinness who highlighted the reliance the local authority and the Tidy Towns volunteers have on each other to deliver on the shared objective of presenting our communities to the highest possible standard.

It was certainly Dromiskin’s night when the village made it two in a row as overall winner of Louth Looking Good, Chairman of the Tidy Towns Committee was named Environmentalist of the Year and further success came in a number of Special Awards including the Climate Action Award, Waste Minimisation Award and Youth Award while also winning a Biodiversity Award and achieving Second Place in the Seasonal Display Category.

Coming a very close second was Blackrock whose success in local and national competitions over the last number of years is envied and admired in equal measures while Third Place went to former National Tidy Towns winner Tallanstown who was also among the winners in the seasonal display category.

A presentation was made to Hugh Callaghan, Dunleer Tidy Towns in recognition of over four decades volunteerism.

While the event was an evening of celebration it was back to work for the volunteers the following day litter picking and carrying out routine maintenance and making plans for next year’s competition.

The work of a Tidy Towns volunteer never stops.