Abbeyshrule retains crown as Longford's tidiest town

It was a success that emulated that of 12 months earlier with the village racking up 373 points to claim the top spot and a gold medal.

The second highest points tally went to Newtowncashel who secured 361 points and the county bronze medal, while the third highest was Longford town who had 357 points, earning them the silver medal.

“This is our 14th gold, said Philip Butler of Abbeyshrule Tidy Towns. “We were glad we didn't stay on 13.”

The second highest points tally went to Newtowncashel who secured 361 points and the county bronze medal, while the third highest was Longford town who had 357 points, earning them the silver medal.

The medal awards are weighted by population. This year, 887 towns were competing for the prestigious awards demonstrating the continuing huge national interest in the SuperValu TidyTowns competition which has been running since 1958.

Abbeyleix, Laois was named as Ireland’s Tidiest Town as well as Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.

Longford had 15 of the 25 assessed towns achieve over 300 points, an impressive feat. Barry, a first time entrant into the competition, netted 233 points in their first outing, and also received an Endeavour Award.

Philip Butler of Abbeyshrule Tidy Towns said the achievement had a special significance for those who are superstitious: “This is our 14th gold. We were glad we didn't stay on 13,” he laughed.

A particularly wet summer had an impact on some of the plans the Abbeyshrule volunteers had in place: “Because of the nature of the year our efforts were not as good as we would have liked. We did get a very good critical report from the judge which has given us a lot to work on,” Philip said.

Those 'areas to work on' range in difficulty: “Mostly they are small general items. They said the old furniture factory is our biggest challenge. We will have to work with the council towards resolving that.”

Developments at The Yard Remote Working Hub, the Abbey and Whitworth Aqueduct have all helped improve Abbeyshrule's already impressive standing: “The greenway has added immensely to it. If you look at all the presentations one feature that is common to all is having water and we have the river and the canal.”

Philip commended all who put in the effort to improve the village's standing: “You can work your tail off all year, but if you haven't got it right when the judges come then that is another thing. There are other facets of Tidy Towns that many people don't see. The work Niamh Dowler does on our application means a lot.”

The Abbeyshrule Tidy Towns spokesperson said the assistance of the local authority was another component of the group's success: “The council gave us outstanding help, we got tremendous cooperation from the area engineers. I also have to hand it to our local councillor Michael Cahill for all he does on our behalf. It is up to us to build those relationships. A lot of what we work on now came from advice we got from Donal Mac An Bheatha.”

Longford Tidy Towns volunteers were also celebrating their success in the 2023 competition. The county town received the silver medal award for their efforts which saw them increase their overall score from 347 to 357.

Chairperson of Longford Tidy Towns, Michael Keenan, was pleased with the progress: “We are delighted with it. We got bronze for seven years in a row and now we have finally got our silver. That means we are close to those at the top level of the competition, which has always been our ambition.

“To use a GAA analogy, Longford is a First Division town. It has been for years, but here is the recognition. We saw the marks go up by 10 points. It's difficult to get that sort of an increase the further up you go. Longford Town's increase last year was 12 points, so in the space of two years we have gone up by 22 points. You don't get those points for nothing,” Michael said.

Michael has very real ambitions for the voluntary organisation: “We want to reach the gold standard. We want to be one of the towns that is for an overall win in the next number of years.”