The Entente Florale judges being shown around the Wetlands back in July.
SO all the hard work did pay off!
Tralee won the Gold medal, the highest award possible, in the Entente Florale Europewide competition announced on Friday in Budapest.
And the news gets better; Tobar Naofa won a special prize for Best Community Garden.
Tralee was the Irish representative in the international horticultural competition established to recognise municipalities and villages in Europe for excellence in horticultural displays.
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The result will be celebrated by the many volunteers in the Tidy Towns groups, Tralee Chamber Alliance and the incredible effort put in by people in Kerry County Council and the old Tralee Town Council.
The Tralee group put together an incredible effort when the judges visited at the end of July, taking them to Manor West Retail Park, Manor Village, Tobar Naofa, Mercy Moyderwell Primary, St John’s Church, the Town Park, Denny Street down to The Mall – where the Tralee Pipe and Drum Band led them to The Square for a special reception with the army band, crafts fair and Transition Towns stands. They also visited the museum, Siamsa Tire, Blennerville Windmill and finally the Tralee Wetlands.
“This is such a prestigious award for us to win,” said Gillian Wharton Slattery of Tralee Tidy Towns.
“Especially when the criteria was so stringent, for us, as such a large town, to pull it off was a real coup. Even though we had a year to prepare, a lot of the work was done in the last few weeks before the visit and everyone put in such a huge effort. It’s beyond fantastic,” said Gillian.
