‘Soldiers of Dawn' at Tidy Towns event

Tidy Towns volunteers from Westmeath were among the 400 delegates who were at the Knightsbrook Hotel in Trim for the Regional Tidy Towns Conference this month.

Jackie Maguire, chief executive, Meath County Council, officially opened the event, and Hector O hEochagáin, MC, credited the attendees as “soldiers of the dawn” – the people who were out maintaining their areas and improving them, regardless of weather, time or competing commitments – they were his “heroes”.

Guest speakers included Sharon Eastwood, biologist and Tidy Towns adjudicator, who advised the groups that “photos and snappy statistics” always stand out to adjudicators. She reaffirmed the need to have a long-term plan and to show that the group are working to that plan. She advised that the “power of a community can really make a difference”.

Billy Flynn, ecologist and Tidy Towns adjudicator, gave advice on biodiversity. “Never do any harm and see what’s in your area first, and ensure you use any local knowledge that is available to you,” he said.

Debbie Nesbitt, waste manager and Tidy Towns adjudicator, addressed the category ‘Sustainability – Doing More with Less’. She advised: “This category is about living better and using less – groups need participation from all sectors of the community to know what’s needed in their community.”

She advised the audience that Voice have a ‘Sustainable Community Toolkit’ available online that can be accessed to give tips and advice on how to be more sustainable. She gave examples of what other counties have done, such as groups in Roscommon who had signed up to and promoted the Conscious Cup campaign.

Juanita Browne from the National Biodiversity Data Centre said that “many of the flowers that we traditionally see could be called ‘plastic flowers’ because they were of no benefit as a food source to pollinators”. She advised that a cost analysis had been carried out on the typical bedding plants used by many groups annually and compared them to planting with perennials – “while they are a little more costly in year one, they will last for a 10-year period compared to the annual flowers that come and go within the year – which work out far more costly”.

A presentation of beauty spots from the southern region was shown by Billy Houlihan, retired architect from Cork County Council. He showed how areas had been transformed over a period of time by having a plan and following a programme to deliver the plan over a sustained period of time.

Cllr Jimmy Moloney, represented Listowel Tidy Towns Group, who were the 2018 winners. All present were keen to learn from their wisdom and experience. He advised that they had won one bronze medal and 11 gold medals before finally getting their hands on the overall title last year – with 339 points.

He said: “The key to success is bringing everyone on board, and that is what we did.

“The positivity, vibe and business that winning the competition has brought to the town cannot be underestimated – people are coming to visit the town and that in turn is providing business for restaurants, pubs, shops, hotels – it has brought nothing only positivity to the place.”

Following lunch a quick fire round of speakers highlighted the Special Awards category of the Tidy Towns Competition.

Pat Smith, Smart Buildings Ireland, said his vision is that soon all homes will have ‘smart controls’ to save energy. Gavin Harte spoke on climate action and how to bring people on board to tackle the issue. Seán O’ Laoide, veterinary officer with Westmeath County Council, spoke about being a responsible dog owner and initiatives undertaken to tackle the nationwide problem of dog fouling, while Dr Loreto Guinan, heritage officer with Meath County Council gave advice on how to identify heritage – natural, man-made or cultural.

“Heritage creates a ‘sense of place’ and it reinforces the character of our towns and villages,” she said.

Ann-Marie Kelly, environmental awareness officer with Laois County Council, gave advice on the networks within which environmental awareness officers work, the array of projects that they are involved with, and how groups can use various routes to participate in and deliver local and international projects such as Town and Village renewal schemes, Public Realm Enhancement and Entente Floral.

“The Tidy Towns conference was organised by eight local authorities in the Eastern Midlands Region – Dublin City, Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Kildare, Laois, Longford, Meath, South Dublin and Westmeath,” said Ruth Maxwell of Westmeath County Council.

“It was wonderful to see so many Tidy Towns groups from Westmeath attending the conference – hopefully the groups will feel inspired and invigorated after the conference and are looking forward to implementing the advice given.”

Members of Westmeath Tidy Towns groups with Hector O hEochagáin, MC of the conference in Trim.