Aughrim, Co.Wicklow was today (10 September) awarded the title of Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2007. Aughrim came close last year when they won the Tidiest Small Town category and were just one point behind the overall winner, Westport.

The County Wicklow town was chosen from over 800 other competitors in this year’s National Tidy Towns Competition. Other winners included Birdhill, Co. Tipperary - Ireland’s Tidiest Village for the second time in a row, Killarney, Co. Kerry which received the Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town award and Letterkenny Co. Donegal was named Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre. Aughrim also received the award of Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.

On hand to present the prizes in Dublin Castle was Mr. John Gormley, T.D., Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and Mr. Donal Horgan, Managing Director of SuperValu, the competition’s national sponsor. Representatives of hundreds of Tidy Towns Committees from around Ireland travelled to Dublin to see Minister Gormley present the overall prize - a perpetual trophy and a cheque for €15,000 - to the Aughrim Tidy Towns Committee.

Green Party Cllr. Caroline Burrell stated that “Aughrim has been a consistent performer in Tidy Towns for many years, they have been steadily advancing and I am delighted that they have now taken the overall title for the first time this year. I would like to congratulate all those involved for their superb efforts. This result is a well-deserved recognition of the hard work and effort expended by ordinary people, contributing to their communities, out of a sense of place, and pride in those communities. Everytime I visit Aughrim, with all it’s beautiful flowers & plants everywhere, it really stands out as an exceptional town. I hope that we could try to achieve that here in Bray through support from community groups and Bray Town Council.”

The national Tidy Towns Competition has been running since 1958. Originally established and organised by Bord Failte, it was taken over by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in 1995 - this is the 12th year the Department has organised the competition. SuperValu have been national sponsors of the competition for the last sixteen years and to date have invested some €6 million in the competition. The network of 180 locally owned SuperValu stores are also heavily involved in supporting local Tidy Towns initiatives. Earlier this year, SuperValu renewed its sponsorship of the competition, under a five-year agreement which will continue the sponsorship until 2011.

“Government fully appreciates the importance of active citizenship such as participation in Tidy Towns, and is committed to practical steps to encourage more people to become involved in the life of their communities. One of our key objectives is to strengthen the relationship between central and local Government, community and voluntary organisations locally - and this is one step towards achieving this,” Cllr. Burrell stated.
Three new special awards were launched this year - a Notice Nature Biodiversity Award, sponsored by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, which was won by the Tidy Towns Committee in Mulranny, Co. Mayo, a Gum Litter Taskforce Award which was won by the Carlow Tidy Towns Committee, and a Building a Bilingual Society Award, sponsored by Foras Na Gaeilge which was won by Westport, Co. Mayo.