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Dee and Kitty Nolan out cleaning up in the Castlemorris area on Monday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean
AS the Entente Florale judging comes ever closer, people are making a special effort to have the town looking its best.
July 31 is when Tralee will be scrutinised as part of the international Tidy Towns Competition that aims to promote a greener and more pleasant environment in European towns and villages and in the Castlemorris/Ballymullen area, residents have been out tending to the area since April, taking pride in their community.
TraleeToday.ie paid a visit to the area on Monday to find out more and learned that the Castlemorris residents make the effort to tidy and maintain their patch every Wednesday.
It shows too as the place looks immaculate with pretty flower beds and well maintained footpaths. It’s no wonder they do so well in the Tidy Tralee Together with a number of firsts and seconds in their category over the years.
“We want to have the place spic and span for the judges when they pass through the area,” said Joan O’Regan of the Castlemorris residents group.
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“We do this clean-up every summer. We have a small, very good residents committee but we’re not doing this just for the Entente Florale or awards. We do it for ourselves as well as Tralee, to have pride in our area. We’ve a lovely area here with beautiful trees and flowers,” said Joan.
“Some of the residents like Mary O’Shea and Mary Walsh here have been living here all their lives so they take a special interest and pride in the area,” said Joan.
“It’s a small group because it’s a small area,” said Ciara Fields of Castlemorris House who has been involved in the group for the past number of years. “We might get anything between two and five of us out but it’s enough really,” she said.
Over in Ballymullen, John O’Sullivan of The Munster Bar was out getting rid of some weeds by the kerbs.
“We go out tidying up once a week but we water the flowers on a daily basis. We encourage people in the area to enhance the fronts of their houses, but in fairness the residents don’t need much encouragement in that regard. People are very proactive and willing to play their part in getting the area ready for the Entente Florale,” said John.
“Pride in place is what it’s all about really and if everybody did a small bit then many hands make light work. Tralee won a gold medal in the Tidy Towns for the last few years and hopefully we’ll be catching up with the bigger players in the future. It’s also nice to get out for a bit of fresh air and to meet your neighbours to have a bit of craic,” said John.
Joan O’Regan, Mary O’Shea, Mary Walsh, Patricia Crowley and Ciara Fields of the Castlemorris residents out cleaning up and tending to the flowers in the area on Monday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean
Ballymullen residents, John O’Sullivan, John O’Shea and Michael Gaffney hard at work in their area on Monday evening. Photo by Dermot Crean
