BIG READ: Resurgence of the Tipperary Tidy Towns Association and the people behind it...

PICTURED ABOVE: Back row L-R: Gerard Crowe, Michael Begley, Paul O’Callaghan, Annemarie Ryan, Paul Whyte and Matt Kenny. Front row L-R: George O’Neill, Catherine O’Dwyer, Cristina Garani, Raymond Coleman and Patrick Ryan

In recent times there has been a huge resurgence in the Tidy Towns project in Tipperary Town.

The town is now the most litter-free town in the entire county.

This is a remarkable achievement in the past few months and this places Tipperary Town in the Top 20 Towns in Ireland, a hugely significant improvement from its previous positions outside of the Top 100.

Prior to Covid-19, Tipperary Tidy Towns was led by Brian Rafferty and a small group of volunteers.

The pandemic brought Tidy Towns’ projects nationally to a standstill and it was only after the pandemic that there was a need felt for a revival of the Tipperary Tidy Towns Association.

Great credit goes to Brian and his team for keeping the fire burning for many years and he still acts as a mentor to the group.

A new committee was elected and this was driven in particular by Cristina Garani, who has a huge interest in Tidy Towns and can be seen working tirelessly each week around the town.

With a new committee in place, the Tipperary Town Tidy Towns has gone from strength to strength in the last two years. Last year, the focus of the group was particularly on the litter problem faced by Tipperary Town.

This year, there has been huge efforts made to promote biodiversity and also to create links with the local schools.

There are seventeen people currently on the committee which is led by Paul O’Callaghan as Chairperson, Siobhan Landers as Secretary, Cristina Garani as Treasurer along with a very hard working group of committee members.

I was delighted to have been asked to attend a recent meeting to hear and see their very progressive work. It was evident that all members present had the best interests of Tipperary Town at heart and were unified in their desire to bring out the best in the famous old town.

The group holds meetings each fortnight, usually in The Porter House at 7pm and they also meet each Saturday morning at the Tipperary Pitch and Putt Club at 9:15am and anyone is welcome to attend. They would be delighted to welcome you, even for just an hour to help with their weekly litter pick of the town.

The group have been actively trying to promote people’s pride in their local area and on November 18 at St Ailbe’s School at 7pm this month the Tipperary Tidy Towns will launch: “Bee the Change” which is the official launch of the Biodiversity and Developmental Plan 2020-2027 for the Tipperary Town. It will also coincide with the official launch of the Tipperary Tidy Towns Poster Experience. There will be 48 posters featuring various clubs, businesses and people from around the town with the common theme being “pride in our community”.

These posters reflect each individual business and premises. The event will be chaired by Mr Paul O’Callaghan and there will also be guest speakers on the night.

Michael Begley and the Tipperary Town Taskforce have been instrumental in helping the Tidy Towns group and are always ready and willing to assist when necessary.

After Christmas, a planting project is being undertaken in the eight National Schools and the three Secondary Schools as part of the Tidy Town project, which will be a welcome development in the locality.

The AGM of the Tipperary Tidy Towns Committee will take place on November 29 this month at 7pm in the Community Centre in Tipperary Town and all interested parties are welcome to attend.

People are invited to come along and offer their views to help guide the direction of the group for the coming year.

The group hopes to continue to grow and involve more Resident Associations from Tipperary Town in the future.

While receiving an accolade would justify all the hard work currently being undertaken by this humble and incredibly hard-working committee, the real aim of the Tipperary Tidy Towns Association is to create a town for everyone to live in, to visit and to respect together.

Written by John O’Heney