Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr Jack Murray has congratulated both Buncrana and Letterkenny Tidy Towns Committees on receiving gold medals in the 2021 SuperValu Tidy Towns competition.
The competition has been in existence since 1958 and Ennis, Co. Clare was judged to be the overall winner this year from the 847 entries nationwide, 34 of which were from Donegal.
Cllr Murray said “Tidy Towns is an enormously positive initiative. The voluntary work undertaken makes a great contribution to improving our towns and villages, making them better places to live, work and visit. I have witnessed firsthand the trojan work that these volunteers do so to have two gold medals within the county is a testament to their tireless work and dedication”.
The announcement was made last Friday by Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys TD, in a scaled back event in the RDS in front of a small number of representatives from this year’s entries.
Buncrana won a gold medal amongst the large towns with a population between 5,001 and 10,000. Letterkenny won a gold medal in the Large Urban Centre category for towns with a population between 15,001 and 25,000.
Cllr Murray also praised the other towns and villages across Donegal that received awards such as the bronze medals winners Glenties and Carraig Airt in Category B for villages with a population between 201 and 1,000 as well as Moville and Raphoe who won bronze medals in Category C for the small towns with a population between 1,001 and 2,500.
Rathmullan saw the biggest improvement from last year and so won the Endeavour Award for Donegal, while Carraig Airt was also highly commended in the Gaeltacht Award.
Buncrana won the All Ireland Pollinator Plan National Award and Large Town Award for the Northwest and West.
“I’d also like to thank all of the Tidy Towns groups in Donegal for all their efforts and support in making their towns and villages all over the county so welcoming. This is a direct result of many hours of dedication by the Tidy Towns volunteers. Seeing these communities come together each year to better their local area encompasses the pride of place that we have here in Donegal”.
The Tidy Towns competition is organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development and has been sponsored by SuperValu since 1992.
