Dunleer Tidy Towns reveals upcoming plans at AGM

Dunleer Tidy Townsheld its AGM on 6 April in the Market House, Main Street, Dunleer. Some new members were voted onto the committee along with others who were re-elected. The newly elected committee are:

• Chairman: Edmund Mathew re-elected unopposed
• Vice Chairman: Hugh Callaghan – re-elected unopposed
• Secretary; Pat Roche re -elected unopposed
• Treasurer: Brian Warren re-elected unopposed
• David Monaghan elected as a new committee member
• Cllr. Bernie Conlon was also elected as a new committee member.

Dunleer Tidy Towns says it welcomes both new members to the Tidy Towns committee. The chairman welcomed all the people to the AGM.  He briefly covered the projects covered during 2022 and gave an outline of some of the projects that Dunleer Tidy Towns will complete this year. 

The biggest project this year will be the Garden of Remembrance on the Ardee Road which will be officially opened on Sunday 25 June 2023 at 3pm. 

Edmund also thanked all the CE workers and the committee and volunteers for their contributions during the year. The garden is presently in progress and the completion date is 31 May 2023.  The contract was given to John Douglas of Douglas Horticulture to complete the garden. 

It will be officially named “The Grace Gifford Plunkett Garden of Remembrance and Reflection.” Grace was married to Joseph Mary Plunkett briefly before he was executed in 1916 at Kilmainham Gaol. The Government guidelines for the project was to name it after a female national figure of the Revolutionary period 1912 to 1922.

At the AGM, Pat Roche, Secretary, gave more details on several projects completed during the summer months last year.
Brian Warren, Treasurer, gave the financial details for the year, with the Tidy Towns group being informed that it is in “a good place financially this year” compared to three very lean years it had since 2020.

The group will also be preparing for the Annual Tidy Towns National Competition starting in mid- June, the results of which it hopes to get at the end of September 2023. Last year in spite of restrictions Dunleer Tidy Towns increased its marks by 9 marks to 331marks which is just 30 short of the national winner. It says it has made good progress for the last 10 years and looks forward to increasing its score again this year. 

Spring Clean Week

The group will be launching the Spring Clean week, 17 April to 22 April, in conjunction with both schools in Dunleer and the youth club at the Market House.  An Taisce will also assist with a project called Cleaner Seas – how to prevent pollution of the seas.

There will be a large poster in the middle of the town asking people to assist by not flushing many different items down the toilet as these eventually end up in the seas causing pollution.

The group is also seeking volunteers to join it and register at the Market House for a litter pick day on Saturday 22 April. The registration will be from 11 am to 1 pm. There will be other events during the year which will include some work along and a social get together afterwards.

Sponsored Walk
The group hopes to have a sponsored 5Km Walk on Saturday 27th May  at 11am from the Market House, walking out the Cappoge Route and back in the Dromin Road. 

It asks that people give their support by donating to people on the street in Dunleer, collecting for the walk, “to help the town build and prosper”. 

Dunleer Tidy Towns adds that it looks forward to people joining the ranks of Tidy Towns by registering on Volunteer Day, on Saturday 2 April at 11am in the Market House, Main Street, Dunleer.