Newtowncashel was awarded a Gold Medal in this year's Tidy Towns competition, while Barry got a 'Best New Entry Award'. Abbeyshrule was 'Highly Commended' and Ardagh was 'Commended'.
Newtowncashel was awarded the gold medal for coming third in the category of Ireland's Tidiest Village with a population of under 200 people. The village was awarded a total of 294 points. Barry in Co Longford was also recognised as Best New Entry in the same category.
Abbeyshrule took overall second place in Co Longford, following Newtowncashel with 281 points, while Ardagh came third in the county with 270 points awarded.
Further to all of that, Longford was also recognised in the Special Awards section with Cullyfad being named as Best Bring Bank in the Midlands and East region.
Longford Westmeath TD Deputy Peter Kelly congratulated the county on its success. "I am delighted that the hard work of the local Tidy Towns Committees paid off. It is a credit to their year round dedication and pride in their localities that means that year after year, towns and villages in Longford do so well in the Tidy Towns Competition."
Cllr Mick Cahill also offered his hearty congratulations, especially to the successful towns of south Co Longford. "I would certainly like to congratulate Newtowncashel, Abbeyshrule and Ardagh on their hard work in achieving these excellent results," he said. "It really engenders a great sense of community spirit in the areas involved."
Longford town itself also increased its marks in the 2007 competition – rising to 252, an extra 21 points on last year. This means that Longford is now tidier than its four neighbouring large towns; Roscommon (248), Cavan (247), Mullingar (235) and Athlone (227). "This is a wonderful achievement given that we were at the bottom of this group only six years ago," said Michael Keenan in a statement from Longford's Tidy Town's Committee. "This is another day when all of the people of Longford Town can be very proud," he said crediting the staff of both Longford Town and Co Councils in his praise. He continued by saying that Longford town still has a lot of work to do but "I think people of Longford Town are beginning to realise that involvement by everyone can deliver a National Title….it is now a possibility and not just a dream," he said.
The endeavour awards also showed great promise for Co Longford. Drumlish showed Longford's greatest improvement, with a 20 per cent increase in tidiness on last year's entry from the village.
A number of other well known areas in the Longford Leader Region were also recognised. Dromod in Co Leitrim was awarded a bronze medal as one of Ireland's Tidiest Villages with a population of less than 200, while Leitrim's principal town Carrick-on-Shannon was highly commended for its efforts in the competition. Cloone was also commended. Leitrim's Ballinamore was named as the winner of the village category in the "Building a Bilingual Society Awards" section for its Co-ordination and Promotioni Campaign.
Keadue in Co Roscommon was awarded a silver medal in the category of Ireland's Tidiest Village, with Castlecoote coming in second in the county and Cloontuskert also getting a commendation. Roscommon was also awarded the newly created Waterside Award for its Wildlife Riverside Garden at Ballyfarnon.
In Cavan, Loch Gowna won out, while Cavan town itself was highly commended and Arva came in fifth place.
Finally, in neighbouring county Westmeath, Rathowen and Finea were placed third and fourth in their categories respectively while Castlepollard was placed joint fourth place overall.