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Holding Tralee’s five Tidy Towns Gold Medals at a special ceremony on Friday morning at Garvey’s Supervalu were, Chairman of Tidy Tralee Together, Sam Locke, Tim Moynihan of Garvey’s Supervalu Tralee, David Moran of Casey & Co. Mary O’Brien of Tralee Tidy Towns and Jim Garvey of Garvey Group. Photo by Dermot Crean
A SPECIAL ceremony was held on Friday morning to thank everyone who helped Tralee get its fifth Tidy Towns Gold Medal in a row.
Chairman of Tralee Tidy Towns Sam Locke was joined in Garvey’s Supervalu, the sponsor of the competition, by Tidy Tralee volunteers, Kerry County Council workers and CEO of Tralee Chamber Alliance, Kieran Ruttledge for the event.
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Cllr Locke expressed his thanks to all groups for the immense contribution they have made over the years to bring Tralee to the level it is at today.
He also advised vigilance and hoped that the improvements made over the years will continue into the future.
“Achieving these awards is very difficult and I’m asking the people of Tralee to come out to support us again next year. We need more businesses to get involved, we need more volunteers to assist from the local communities to enhance the town and get extra points for next year,” said Cllr Locke.
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He also thanked Garvey’s Supervalu in Tralee for their support and paid special tribute to Mary O’Brien who has been a pillar of the Tidy Towns community in the town.
Cllr Sam Locke with Mary O’Brien and the 2016 Tidy Towns Gold Medal. Photo by Dermot Crean
Speaking to TraleeToday.ie, Kieran Ruttledge said that he had been informed by Kerry County Council Tourism Officer, John Griffin, that Tralee has made more improvements in points over the past number of years more than any other large town in the country.
“If you go back 10 years ago, Tralee was doing badly in Tidy Towns, but now we’ve won five gold medals in a row and that’s huge for the town,” he said.
“What amazes me is when I go to the UK and Europe. how disgraceful other countries are compared to Ireland when it comes to litter and Tidy Towns has a huge part to play in that. We’re way ahead of other countries,” he said.
Mr Ruttledge thanked all the local businesses, especially Garvey’s Supervalu, for getting involved and hoped more will contribute next year.
The Tidy Tralee volunteer of the month award was also announced and it was given to Mairead Fernane.
