Tipperary councillor queries 'fairness' of same grants for all Tidy Towns groups in his district

A councillor has questioned the “fairness” of the same €750 council grant being allocated in all Tidy Towns groups in Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District regardless of the size of their community.

Carrick-on-Suir Cllr Kieran Bourke queried the policy at Carrick-on-Suir Municipal District's monthly meeting where information was given in the District Administrator's report about Tipperary County Council's 2026 Tidy Towns Grants Scheme.

“I am probably going to be shot when I say this but is it really fair to give everyone the same. There are areas that are very small and other areas way bigger,” the Fianna Fáil councillor said.

He noted that some villages have far more green areas to be maintained and work to be done than others but stressed he was making this point as an observation on the size of the grants rather than an objection to them.

Cloneen Cllr Mark Fitzgerald, who is involved in his community's Tidy Towns group, countered that larger communities benefit from county council assistance and have large Community Employment Schemes but smaller villages don't have these resources and their Tidy Towns volunteers do all the work.

“At the end of the day, it's only €750. If we were talking about thousands of euro, I could see your argument,” he said.

The Fine Gael councillor added that smaller villages like Drangan and Cloneen “really need that few pounds. It's very beneficial to them and they are very appreciative of it”.

District Administrator Marie Cox explained there is a budget for Tidy Towns groups from the council's Environment Section. An initial grant is given to Tidy Towns groups in Carrick MD at the start of the year and more funds are awarded to them later in the year through the Carrick Municipal District Tidy Town Awards.

For example, Carrick-on-Suir Tidy Towns received an additional €2,000 through the awards last year because it achieved the biggest increase in points in the National Tidy Towns Competition as it was a new entrant to the contest.

However, she indicated it was time they reviewed the distribution of the funding.

One area she suggested could be reviewed was the funding allocated through the district awards to those Tidy Towns groups unlikely to achieve further big jumps in National Tidy Towns Competition points because they are operating a long time.

Ms Cox, meanwhile, encouraged residents groups, operating outside of Tidy Towns committees to improve their communities, to contact the Council in relation to securing funding assistance.

READ NEXT: The High Stool Prophets to perform at Tipperary folk music festival