The announcement of an extension to the grant scheme was made yesterday evening by Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development, and all committees have been informed.
Having begun in 1958, the competition is one of rural and urban Ireland’s oldest and most popular community initiatives. In 2019, a record 924 entries were received and the village of Glaslough in Co Monaghan was the overall winner that year. No wonder they won – albeit by a single point – see photo!
Previous winners include Listowel, Co. Kerry, and Westport, Co. Mayo, and there are now 987 eligible Tidy Towns groups registered across the country.
The top-up grant funding follows on from the announcement in December by Minister Humphreys of €1m extra for Tidy Towns.
🌲 Att: Tidy Towns volunteers 🌸
✅ Application date for funding under €1m top-up fund extended until March 19.
✅Grants of up to €1,000 available to groups to prepare for 2021 competition
✅Further details on 2021 competition in the coming weeks
@DeptRCD @TidyTownsIre pic.twitter.com/V4PM4BrbJ3— Heather Humphreys (@HeatherH) March 2, 2021
Further details about this year’s competition will be revealed in the coming weeks. The first priority as Minister Humphreys stressed is to ensure people follow the public health guidelines and adhere to social distancing.
No doubt with Spring here people around the country are keen to get out and about – in a safe mode – to give their communities the ultimate spring clean.
While the main prizes are for general tidiness, the competition categories have expanded over the years to cover social inclusion, diversity, biodiversity.
To find out more, visit: https://www.tidytowns.ie
