Minister for Rural and Community Development, Heather Humphreys has today (October 28) announced Trim, Co. Meath as Ireland’s Tidiest Town for 2022 in the TidyTowns competition.
Over 750 TidyTowns volunteers were present at the SuperValu TidyTowns awards ceremony at the RDS in Dublin – with thousands more watching online.
It was the first full-scale TidyTowns awards ceremony since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.
This year’s competition received the third highest number of entries in its almost 65-year history.
Other TidyTowns winners
Rosscarbery, Co. Cork was named as Ireland’s Tidiest Village, while Cahir, Co. Tipperary was named as the overall winner of the Young Persons in TidyTowns Award and also the overall winner of the SuperValu AsIAm Inclusive Communities Award.
Announcing Trim as the overall winners, Minister Humphreys said:
“I want to sincerely congratulate Trim and all of its TidyTowns volunteers for being crowned Ireland’s tidiest town for 2022.
“This is a moment of great pride for Trim and indeed the wider county of Meath. Having first entered the competition in 1959, Trim today continues to showcase all that is good about community and volunteerism.
“I want to pay tribute to all the winners today but, above all, I want to say a huge thank you to the thousands of TidyTowns volunteers across the country. The time and effort that you put in to making your town or village a better place says so much about your commitment and dedication to your community,” the minister added.
SuperValu
The SuperValu TidyTowns competition has been in existence since 1958 and Trim was judged to be the best from a number of 882 entries to the competition this year.
On hand to announce the results of the 2022 competition with Minister Humphreys was Ian Allen, managing director of SuperValu, the competition’s sponsor for over 30 years.
Some of the other big winners on the day included:
- Rosscarbery, Co. Cork awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Village;
- Clonakilty, Co. Cork awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town;
- Trim, Co. Meath awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town;
- Ennis, Co. Clare awarded Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre.
The minister added: “Following a competitive process to secure a funding partner for the competition, it gives me great pleasure to announce today that negotiations have commenced with SuperValu as the preferred bidder to partner with the Department of Rural and Community Development to administer the competition out to 2027.
Funding for TidyTowns
Minister Humphreys also announced a special allocation of €1.4 million in funding to support the work of individual TidyTowns groups around the country to help them in their continued efforts to enhance their towns and villages.
“The creation of a sense of place that our groups achieve through their efforts makes our towns and villages the wonderful places they are to live in, to work in and indeed to visit,” Minister Humphreys added.
“The initiatives taken by volunteers in areas of climate action, sustainability and Inclusivity are most encouraging and as such I am very pleased to be able to announce this funding today to support them in bringing about even greater change into the future.
“In total, 935 TidyTowns groups across the country will be eligible to benefit from this investment.”