Westport in Co Mayo scooped the prize for Tidiest Large Town, while Glaslough, Co Monaghan received the prize for Tidiest Village.
Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Heather Humphreys, TD, and Eoghan Jones, SuperValu Regional Manager, presented the awards at a ceremony in Castle Leslie, Glaslough, on Monday 19 November.
Minister Humphreys said: "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.
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"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."
Eoghan Jones, SuperValu Regional Manager, added: "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."
Minister Humphreys also 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.
"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."
A full list of TidyTowns winners is available here.
(CM/MH)
