Terry Brennan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Yesterday was national Tidy Towns day, with more than 850 communities taking part in what is now a major national competition. The overall winner was Letterkenny in County Donegal, and I happened to be there yesterday when the announcement was made. The town has participated in the competition for 57 years, culminating in yesterday's marvellous achievement, which arose from a consistent effort from the local community. Clonegal in County Carlow is Ireland's tidiest village, while Listowel in County Kerry is Ireland's tidiest small town. Westport in County Mayo won the category of Ireland's tidiest large town. I congratulate everybody in the many towns and villages that have participated on an annual basis but have not won. I come from Carlingford, which was an overall winner 20 years ago but is still participating. The people are trying to improve the lives of the community and our towns and villages for the many visitors who come to us.

We speak about volunteerism in this Chamber fairly often, and there are not many greater examples of it than this competition. We can think of communities doing their best to improve facilities - for themselves, primarily, but for visitors as well - for more than 50 years, or five generations. These people love their towns and villages. We must also acknowledge what this has done for tourism in the four corners of this country. People like to visit, stand, stare and admire these towns and villages, so I congratulate one and all for participating. The competition started with 50 participants in the first year.Yesterday, the number of participants was in excess of 850 throughout the length and breadth of the country, and all are to be congratulated.