Onwards and upwards for Cahir Tidy Towns in 2023 after two national awards this year

Last week was an eventful week for Cahir Tidy Towns as we headed to Dublin’s new venue in the RDS for the National Annual Tidy Towns Awards. Things were very tight this year with tickets and we thank our members Anna, Catherine, Margaret and Ellen for making the trip.

The very first award on the day was the National Young Persons Tidy Towns Awards and a lot of work was done in this category in 2021/22 with the TY, Girls Primary School and Youth Club that proved good enough to get us over the line and we were first on the podium to collect this honour. Hopefully we can repeat the trend here in 2022/23 and improve on marks next year.

Soon after that announcement we were back on the platform for the National SuperValu & Asiam Award for the contribution of the various charity groups Aspect adult Autism, Brothers of Charity, a disability involvement and in particular the contribution of the community and businesses to the environment and the civic pride in their town towards the walks and improvements around the town.

With RRDF funding due to be announced, it is hoped that Cahir can be successful and a facelift of the paving and roadways would be a huge boost to the town in the years ahead.

With the two awards in the bag, there were high hopes for our medal and the Bronze Medal was announced once again for us with an improvement of eight points on the previous year.

Will I tell you a story about Eddie Lenihan at the Great Hall in Cahir Castle in Tipperary?...

While many thought that Cahir could climb further towards a Silver Medal this year, we are still five points off and for those looking at results, if we got one point less, then we wouldn’t get a medal. That is how tight our category is. Meanwhile, we will build on the areas where we are weak and hope to impress the judges further next year.

The group gathered on Friday night after the awards for a celebration and thanks to Margaret, Hughie and staff for looking after us as they do during the year. There was no time to waste as members were all involved in the Scare in Cahir on Sunday night and prep work had to be done.

A little reminder that the Defibrillator 5km between ourselves and meet and train is on Saturday, November 12 at 10am and Cahir House Hotel Afternoon Tea is on December 18 that would make a perfect gathering before Christmas and will see a donation to Cahir Tidy Towns if anyone would like to support the occasion.

Maintenance is ongoing and we build towards 2023 with high hopes of retaining our medal and gaining more points. Well done to everyone involved as far back as 1959 and those who kept Tidy Towns alive over the years but are no longer with us or unable to participate. This is as much your medal as it is the present group.

Thanks also to those who sponsored us during the year and to CDA for keeping the records and Marie Moloney for the entry form and of course Tipperary County Council, without their assistance we could not keep up the work. There are many people doing their bit on the outskirts of the town that you don’t see and great credit is due to them, so thanks for your help.

Onwards and upwards now. “There is no I in the word team,” as they say.