Tipperary community group wins South East Regional Tidy Towns award for second year in a row

Pictured above from left: Pat Casey of Ardcastle Tidy Towns Group, Patsy Hennessy, Jonas Callanan, Denis Heffernan (seated) and Catherine Quish of Emly Tidy Towns Group at Croke Park for the SuperValu Tidy Towns Contest awards ceremony.

Voluntary groups from four south Tipperary towns and villages earned Gold medal awards in this year’s SuperValu Tidy Towns Contest with Emly Tidy Towns scooping the South East Regional Award for the second year in a row.

It was another outstanding year for Tipperary in the competition with 11 medals awarded to towns and villages across the county.

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Gold medal winner Emly Tidy Towns not only won the South East Regional Award but was the overall South Tipperary County winner again securing 395 points, 11 more than last year and just five behind Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns Group – the overall national winner. The group competed in the 201 –1,000 population category.

Jonas Callanan, Emly Tidy Towns Group Chairman, said members were thrilled to win both the regional and county awards in the national contest.

“We won the regional award last year so we weren’t really expecting it this year but we are really, really thrilled because a lot of hard work was put in by members throughout the year,” he told The Nationalist.

“I know the village looked well during the summer. Thanks to the county council we got a new footpath from the Tipperary end of the village to the centre. That greatly enhanced that area of the village. We got a lovely flower bed in front of the village café, which was magnificent all summer. We are trying to do a lot of small things.”

Emly Tidy Towns Group volunteers at work painting a mural at the entrance to the Galtee View housing estate in Emly village. 

The group’s busiest time of the year is between April and July. Jonas said they could have up to 20 volunteers out working in the village on a Thursday evening. The two hour Thursday work sessions always end in a social cup of tea and chat, which is the highlight for volunteers.

Emly Tidy Towns Group is 38 years old and has a remarkable track record in the competition. It won the overall national title in 2010 and also won six regional awards in a row around that time.

Jonas travelled with fellow committee members to Croke Park for the National Tidy Towns awards ceremony in Croke Park on Friday, October 24. His companions included one of the group’s founding members Denis Heffernan, Patsy Hennessy and Catherine Quish.

He said they were delighted to see neighbouring clubs doing so well with Cashel TT winning its first gold medals and Tipperary Town TT winning its first medal.

Another stand out performer in south Tipperary was Kilsheelan Tidy Towns, which won a gold medal in the 1,001 to 2,500 population category.

The group was second overall in south Tipperary and received the Greenways and Active Travel award for its work on the Suir Blueway and also the Young Persons in Tidy Towns award.

Clonmel Tidy Towns Group earned a gold medal in the largest 15,001 – 25,000 population category and placed third overall in south Tipperary, while Cashel won a gold medal in the 5,001 -10,000 population category.

Other noted south Tipperary award winners were Marlfield Village Association winning the South East regional and national Waters and Communities Special Award and Lisronagh Tidy Towns Group earning the Endeavour Award for achieving the biggest improvement in the county from last year.

Cahir and Tipperary Town Tidy Towns groups, meanwhile, won bronze medals in their population categories.

Tipperary County Council congratulated all tidy towns groups across the county for their outstanding achievement in the National Tidy Towns Contest. The competition attracted a total of 79 entries from Tipperary.

“A sincere thank you to all the dedicated volunteers whose tireless efforts and commitment continue to enhance our communities, making Tipperary a cleaner, greener and more beautiful place to live, work and visit,” the council added.