Great strides in Cahir recognised at Ireland's Pride of Place awards

The twentieth annual running of the Pride of Place Awards took place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin last weekend in front of an audience of 500 hopefuls trying to secure silverware for their community.

Pride of Place celebrates the extraordinary work carried out by communities all over the 32 counties in various categories that have been nominated by their council and Cahir Tidy Towns and Tipperary Men’s Shed had been shortlisted for the final night. 

The ethos of the awards is about acknowledging and recognising in a meaningful manner the important fantastic work of communities.

One such entrant was Cahir Tidy Towns in the towns under 5000 population category and following a comprehensive application aided with council tuition from Marie Cox and a lengthy interview process the group were travelling with high hopes. 

Tidy Towns activist and local Councillor Andy Moloney explained that everything and anything that goes on in the area was judged and the adjudicator went back as far as 1991 when Cahir was first by-passed to the current day to decide on the outcome.

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In recent years the Enterprise Towns awards, Social Inclusion, Green Flags, new walks and tree planting on top of the plans with the RRDF funding for further improvements helped the group to achieve a runner up trophy and €500 cheque on the night. The CEO of Tipperary County Council  Joe MacGrath and County Chairman Roger Kennedy were also on hand to hail the success. 

Cahir has made great strides in recent years and this is down to every man, woman and child who continue to promote the area in whatever way they can. Whether it’s by providing top class sporting facilities, schools, the many festivals, hospitality, Irish music and culture, tourist attractions etc., it is all part of the adjudication process. 

Credit must also go to those who may no longer be with us and have kept the flag flying over the years and Cllr Moloney points out that Tidy Towns started in Cahir in 1959 and while it may not have been to the scale it is now, it was nevertheless started and kept going over the years by many who cared enough for the town and this award is for them also. 

With €13m to be pumped into the town in the coming years with the aim of increasing footfall and retail, it was all taken into account and Cahir is up to the challenge.  While Moloney accepted the trophy, he said all credit must go to those at home and with the likes of Swiss Cottage, Cahir Castle, the Galtees, The Vee and Mitchelstown Caves on our doorstep we can look forward to Cahir as a major destination town in the coming years. Cllr Moloney congratulated the Tipperary Men’s Shed who won in their category on the night also and thanked Tipperary County Council for the nomination and Marie Cox in particular for her support and also thanks to Cahir Development Association for the assistance in PowerPoint presentations and their input on the day. Many went home on the night without any award, but on this occasion we were in the mix of winners.