The Co Louth village of Tallanstown has been named overall winner of Ireland’s Tidy Towns competition.
The cheers of the village’s 35-strong Tidy Towns Committee could be heard around the Helix Theatre in Dublin as Minister for the Environment John Gormley made the announcement that the Louth village, which has a population of just 600, had scooped this year's award.
Tallanstown also won in the category of Tidiest Village.
While the rest of the committee cheered, chairman Richard Barry calmly accepted the award which was 26 years of hard work in the making.
"It's not been an overnight success," he admitted. "I think the first year we went in was 1984 and I think we were 730th that particular time, in other words there were 730 places better than us...it's been a long, long climb."
As the champagne was broken out and the cameras clicked, Mr Barry paid tribute to the committee members and other volunteers who all did their part in ensuring Tallanstown's success.
"It will mean an awful lot to the community because we were a very run-of-the-mill, probably not very nice village at all and we set to making it a better village and our basic aim is to make Tallanstown a better place to live in, to work in and to visit."
Mr Gormley said that the event was a show of the community spirit, something we need to tap in on in these recessionary times.
"It's like All-Ireland day, the sense of community spirit. If you want to see positivity and you want to experience really what community life is about you should come out to the Tidy Towns competition because it means so much to them."
He said that, while this was a competition, that the winners were always willing to pass on their best techniques. "That's what I find most enjoyable about it, that sense that we are still a nation of people who have something to contribute. There's a can-do spirit out there and it's the sort of spirit we need to tap into to get this country out of recession."
In their remarks, the judges labelled Tallanstown a place of “idyllic rural charm”.
“The mix of traditional and sensitively designed modern additions combine to create a lovely picture in this tranquil rural location. The stone bridge is a lovely feature and creates a suitable sense of arrival to the core village area,” the adjudicators noted.
The judges complimented the committee, commenting that they had mobilised “voluntary army” as well as engaging with the younger generation in various environmental programmes.
Other winners included Lismore, Co Waterford, which received the award of Ireland's Tidiest Small Town; Killarney, Co Kerry which received the Ireland's Tidiest Large Town award; and Kilkenny, Co Kilkenny was named Ireland's Tidiest Large Urban Centre.
The winner of the SuperValu TidyTowns Schools Award also went to Louth as Ardee Educate Together National School took the award.