News of Lismore's success was greeted with delight in the West Waterford town which has been working assiduously over the last number of years to win the Tidy Towns contest after a number of regional and sectoral successes.
Mrs Mary McBride - one of the original founding members of the Lismore Tidy Towns Committee back in 1988 - was jubilant at the news, though she admitted that they had little idea that they were going to be so successful.
"It's terrific news and we're delighted but we honestly hadn't an inkling that it was coming - we got the same number of invites to Dublin as we did in other years so it was genuinely a surprise even though we've been working very hard in recent years," she said.
Two years ago, Lismore won the Best Small Town in Ireland category in the Tidy Towns. Over the last number of years it has also won the best Tidy Town in the south-east ahead of other towns in Waterford, Wexford, Carlow, Kilkenny and Tipperary.
According to Mrs McBride, the town has always enjoyed fine buildings and lovely trees. Its success in being nominated for the Entente Florale some 10 years ago provided great encouragement to those involved in the Tidy Towns to redouble their efforts. Some 20 members attend the monthly meeting of the Tidy Towns Committee, while from March to October, some 250 people working in rotas participate in twice-daily litter patrols of the town, picking up and removing any litter.
"That's all done on a voluntary basis - it's a huge commitment. Where we are today is only because of the voluntary commitment of the community. We get great help from Lismore Town Council but there's a tremendous community effort behind our success," she said.
For the competition year 2003/2004, Lismore Tidy Towns spent €4,670 on sprucing up the town.