ENNISCORTHY IS the second cleanest town in Ireland according to the latest IBAL anti-litter survey, the results of which were announced yesterday morning. There were great celebrations in the town following a mammoth effort this year from Enniscorthy Tidy Towns and council staff alike to ensure that the town looked its best, both for the 1916 centenary celebrations and for what was expected to be a busy summer, tourism wise.
Enniscorthy was just pipped to the top spot by Kilkenny and was joined in second by Kildare, having been judged to be “cleaner than European norms”. While the town itself was judged to be spotless, many surrounding areas have complained of falling victim to illegal dumping in recent weeks.
Chairman of Enniscorthy Tidy Towns, Billy Murphy, said that they were over the moon with Enniscorthy’s standing in the latest survey and said it was the result of great co-operation between various organisations.
“I think this certainly demonstrates the impact of the Gateway Scheme,” he said. “It started this time last year with the goal of getting people back to work and I think it’s clear the impact that it has had. As well as that we’ve had our volunteers our, as well as people on our CE scheme along with the council’s outdoor staff.”
According to Billy, Enniscorthy Tidy Towns currently have a “hardcore” of around twelve volunteers as well as around eight people on CE schemes, but he says that they are always looking to recruit more volunteers.
“We’re always looking for more volunteers to be honest,” he said. “But the ones we have have done tremendous work and have been out there working and clearing up on Sundays when the council staff wouldn’t be working.”
Enniscorthy has looked amazing in recent weeks and months and the judges agreed when they visited the town recently. Areas such as Abbey Square with its beautiful and colourful flowers provide a real focal point for anyone visiting.
“For anyone coming to the town, it’s always good to have an impact area like that,” said Billy. “It makes a great first impression. We have to keep the rest of the town looking good too though. Any visitors coming in via Railway Square should have noticed a great improvement and with upcoming rejuvenation of Templeshannon, we hope things will only get better. It’s a process of collaboration and cooperation.”
“Everyone can see that this is good for the town,” Billy continued. “There was a lot more vandalism and things like that years ago, but thankfully I think that seems to be under control and everybody is on board with what we’re trying to do.”
Enniscorthy and Kildare in joint second place were followed by neighbouring Waterford City and Carlow town in what was an extremely strong showing for the South East. Enniscorthy Tidy Towns will be hoping that the good news continues in the coming weeks as the results of the National Tidy Towns Competition are imminent and the town hopes to retain, and perhaps even upgrade the Bronze medal achieved last year.
Abbey Square is just one of the areas that has seen a lot of hard work from Enniscorthy Tidy Towns and the Council.