The mark received by Ballina in this year’s National Tidy Towns Awards was disappointing, according to elected councillors.
Councillors raised the matter at the monthly meeting of Ballina Municipal District.
They argued that the town has never looked so well and while it marginally improved its overall score, it had anticipated Gold recognition in the competition this year.
The councillors were high in praise of Ballina Tidy Towns committee, the Ballina Clean-up group and the many volunteers that come out weekly to ensure the town is looking its best.
They said the efforts put in by both volunteers and the local authority to clean-up Ballina in the run up to Joe Biden’s visit in April, and the number of major events hosted in the town over its 300th anniversary celebrations in 2023 - augured well for a big result last month in the National Tidy Towns Award, however, it did not materialise.
Cllr Mark Duffy, a member of Ballina Clean-up group, said the town would have liked a higher score as a recognition of the input, however, he said it did not need Tidy Towns to validate what has been achieved and will continue in Ballina.
The Independent councillor has been speaking to Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley about the general level of disappointment that Ballina did not secure its Gold dream in the competition this year…
Crossmolina based councillor Michael Loftus, like all elected councillors at the Municipal District meeting praised Ballina for its achievement in the National Tidy Towns competition last month, but said he had questioned why smaller towns/ villages in the Ballina Municipal District had not featured in the competition.
After making enquiries he discovered that many local tidy town committees find the application form to enter the national Tidy Towns Competition too cumbersome and also many haven’t enough local volunteers to compete at that level.
He spoke to Midwest News Editor Teresa O’Malley about his findings…