A PIN could have dropped inside the walls of the Shannon Suite at the Limerick Strand Hotel on the Ennis Road and everyone would have heard it as the crowd eagerly anticipated the announcement of the winner of the 2022 Limerick Going for Gold competition.
Limerick Going for Gold aims to make Limerick a cleaner, brighter place to work, live and visit and has captured the imagination of Tidy Towns groups, residents’ associations, smaller groups and individuals right across Limerick city and county since it began in 2012.
Adare Tidy Towns was named the overall winners of the competition taking home a cheque worth €10,000 due to their efforts in biodiversity, cleanliness and their work around the UN Sustainable Development Goals which are 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet.
Upon winning the competition Bridie Collins, chairperson of Adare Tidy Towns and Fianna Fáil councillor for the Municipal District of Adare-Rathkeale, commented about what they are going to do with the prize money.
"We plan on doing a lot with biodiversity, we've started creating a nature trail so we can now do way more with that. We have so much ideas including creating a walk right up to the Manor Fields," Cllr Collins said.
A total of 11 groups were selected as finalists earlier in the year and each group took home some prize money. Adare Tidy Towns was one of six Judges' Wildcards.
The full list of winners in the Tidy Towns category was: Doon, Hospital, Newcastle West, Athea, Ardpatrick, Kilteely who received €1,500 in prize money each.
Kilmeedy came in fifth, taking home €2,000; Patrickswell were fourth, taking home €3,000 and Askeaton took third place with €5,000.
This left Castleconnell and Adare as both groups took to the stage for the suspenseful climax of the competition. It was Castleconnell who were named runners-up and awarded €7,000 for their efforts.
Other categories included the Limerick Bee Friendly in Bloom and Kilteely were named the overall winners of that category, taking home a cheque for €5,000 and a large statue of a butterfly against the backdrop of a tree trunk.
The The Going for Gold competition is sponsored by the JP McManus Charitable Foundation and supported by Limerick Leader/Limerick Live, Live 95, Limerick Post, I Love Limerick, Limerick City Centre Tidy Towns, Southern Media Marketing and Design and the Parkway Shopping Centre.
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