The 2016 National Tidy Towns Winners Announced Today
The 2016 National Tidy Towns winners announced today at the awards ceremony in Dublin. The awards ceremony was held in the Helix Theatre in DCU in Dublin and will be shown on Nationwide this evening at 7 pm on RTE 1. Interest in the National Tidy Towns competition has been consistently high in recent times with the number of entries from tidy towns committees exceeding 800 each year for the last five years. Overall there were 862 entries into this years tidy towns competition, an increase in entries from 849 last year.
Overall Winner : Skerries Co Dublin
Tidiest Large Urban Center : Ennis Co Clear
Tidiest Large Town : Skerries Co Dublin
Tidiest Small Town : Listowel Co Kerry
Tidiest Village : Birdhill Co Tipperary
Swinford Tidy Towns have been awarded 258 points in this years competition. Swinford Tidy Towns achieved 248 marks in last years competition, up from 240 the previous year 2014. Huge thanks to everyone that has helped out throughout the year. Great credit has to go to everyone in the Swinford community. There has been so much work done over the last few years. Every little bit helps, no matter how small, it really does make a difference. We are getting so many positive comments back from tourists and people who have been away from Swinford, that notice a huge improvement in the appearance of the town!
Swinford Results from 1996 to 2016
Mayo – Category C
Béal an Mhuirthead 319
Kiltimagh 288
Crossmolina 286
Balla 277
Ballyhaunis 270
Swinford 258
Killala 221
Category C – Gold Medal Winners
- Abbeyleix, Co Laois 324
- Lismore, Co Waterford 324
- Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow 322
- Straan, Co Kildare 320
- Glenties, Co Donegal 319
- Béal an Mhuirthead, Co Mayo 319
- Aughrim, Co Wicklow 319
- Adare, Co Limerick 318
Category C – Silver Medal Winners
- Rathangan, Co Kildare 315
- Kill, Co Kildare 314
- Coolaney, Co Sligo 314
Category C – Bronze Medal Winners
- Quin, Co Clare 311
- Ballymore Eustace, Co Kildare 311
- Raphoe, Co Donegal 310
- Kilkee, Co Clare 308
- Skibbereen, Co Cork 308
- Kilmallock, Co Limerick 308
- Rosslare, Co Wexford 308
Regional Winners
Midlands and East – Skerries, Co Dublin 327
North West and West – Westport, Co Mayo 325
South East – Birdhill, Co Tipperary 326
Mid West and South West – Ennis, Co Clare 326
Community Involvement & Planning / Rannpháirtíocht an Phobail & Pleanáil:
Many thanks for your entry in this year’s Tidy Towns Competition. Thank you for a really interesting and
enlightening entry. This was very nicely laid out and illustrated and gave a good insight into your working year.
Thanks for the cover letter and congratulations on your Pride of Place victory- well done to all! Your entry in this
category was very clear and showed the breadth of your involvement within your community and with the ethos of
the competition. Your support from business as well as by Mayo County Council and others speaks well for your
organisation and activity. A minor criticism: could you please work on your map? The two-map format wasn’t handy.
The key was overly elaborate and doesn’t need a binomial system. Try and see if you could fit all of your area on a
single hand-drawn A3 sheet with the project areas shown in a key on the same sheet. Thank you and again, well
done.
Built Environment and Streetscape / An Timpeallacht Thógtha agus Sráid-dreacha:
A very clear and concise entry here Swinford. Thanks. You’ve been busy. Swinford Motors looks very well kept for
such as large area. The bottle banks at the petrol station here are very neat. Market St is a lovely traditional area
and has much potential. Buildings are of a consistent size and shopfront design. There are so many nice original
shopfront features including window bars, plasterwork and large plate glass windows. This is somewhat diminished
by the really poor signage at the Spar. Some more upkeep is also needed on some of the empty shops. Watch out
for missing beer signs from pubs in prominent locations. Also watch out for overly large posters and window
stickers. State of repair of benches will have to be among your checklists. First floor elevations can also be easily
spoiled by large or inappropriate signs. Several businesses on Main Street need to improve their general upkeep of
windows and at base of walls.
Landscaping and Open Spaces / Tírdhreachú agus Spásanna Oscailte:
Again, your entry here could hardly be clearer. Native trees, bee highways and wildflowers show that you have one
eye on the natives. A car-park area (no name) looked very poor and this site is an opportunity for a significant
planting project. The larger car-parking area could be greatly improved with a mural – you could paint plant and
flowers along this. Lovely but restrained work was seen at Davitt Place. Well done. The playground at Brabazon
Wood was very neat and clean on adjudication day. Tree-planting is recommended at the Community Centre.
There is a damaged sign frame at the football grounds.
Wildlife, Habitats and Natural Amenities / Fiadhúlra, Gnáthóga agus Taitneamhachtaí Nádúrtha:
Excellent entry here by Swinford and this is the kind of work we love to see. You are working with experts, doing practical conservation work and including young people in your efforts. Additional points here are well-deserved.
Japanese knotweed is a problem at Pound Lane. Brabazon Woods is really lovely. A great network of paths is
found here and were in perfect condition. New bat-boxes were noted. The older bug hotel is poorly placed and
could be a fire hazard. Do please note that a pile of rotting (damp) wood piled up is every bit as good as a ‘bug
hotel’. A walks sign is broken and another is missing here. Don’t let Montbretia become the dominant plant in
semi-natural or planted areas.
Sustainable Waste and Resource Management / Bainistiú Acmhainní agus Dramhaíola Inbhuanaithe:
Once again, really good stuff here. You name-check lots of the important issues. You are self-reliant now for water,
thanks to rainwater harvesting. The Food Cloud (the adjudicator only heard about this earlier this year) is an
excellent initiative and is just what we are hoping to read about. You’ve greened your festivals and support your
second hand shops. Very good.
Tidiness and Litter Control / Slachtmhaireacht agus Rialú Bruscair:
Clear details of all of your anti-litter actions were laid out well. In the case of your anti dog litter work, the mutt-mitt
project was very well-illustrated. Well done. You compete in the Mayo County Council anti-litter league, participate
in national and European clean-ups and involve the schools in what you do. Well done. The recycling banks were
passably presentable but the signage is dirty and obscured by overhanging cherry laurel. A wire-free Main Street
was admired.
Residential Streets & Housing Areas / Sráideanna Cónaithe & Ceantair Tithíochta:
Lots of different actions were described here, including a most useful Swinford Street League sponsored by Tesco.
You are encouraging estates to undertake actions for themselves, including forming groups. You have good plans
in this category.
Approach Roads, Streets & Lanes / Bóithre Isteach, Sráideanna & Lánaí:
Wildflower gardening and mowing regimes for pollinators feature in your work this year and you reference the All
Ireland Pollinator Plan. Very good. You lobby both businesses and the local authority. New bike lanes will be one
outcome of this vital task of the modern Tidy Towns group.
The N5 approach looks quite well although some of the grass-cutting appears to be uneven. The murals at Pound
Lane look very good. Mellets & Duggans lead the way here with the standard of buildings that could be achieved.
Concluding Remarks:
While much remains to do, it’s very clear that much has been done, and with a good plan behind it. It was very
enjoyable to have a close look at Swinford, thank you.
Download the 2016 Results for Swinford
Download the 2016 National Tidy Towns Results Book
- WEEE Free Electrical Collection In Swinford 2024 - March 25, 2024
- Annual Swinford Spring Clean 2024 - March 21, 2024
- Mayo Litter Management Plan Survey - March 20, 2024
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