Robbie Gallagher (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to be able to stand here to celebrate the great news day in County Monaghan yesterday. Glaslough, County Monaghan, was named winner of the 2019 SuperValu national TidyTowns competition. It beat off competition from more than 918 entries nationally to take the award for Ireland's tidiest village and the overall national award for Ireland's tidiest town. It is the second time in Glaslough's history that it has scooped the overall award having first won the prestigious competition in 1978. It was great to be there last night to see some of the main organisers from the 1978 win celebrating again. Glaslough has a great record in the TidyTowns competition and in putting its best foot forward. It won the tidiest small village award last year and represented Ireland in the Entente Florale Europe Competition 2017, where it took first place also. It is a remarkable achievement for a small village and testament to the commitment, dedication, passion and hard work of the Glaslough TidyTowns committee and volunteers. One of the pleasing aspects of the win is the number of young people who were involved. The children from both local schools have embraced all that is good about Glaslough and TidyTowns and I was delighted to see so many of them at last night's event. They all look forward eagerly to the visit of President Higgins in June 2020 to celebrate their magnificent achievement. To continue the theme of good news for Monaghan, Carrickmacross in the south of the county came in the top three in the larger town category. Carrickmacross TidyTowns committee has also launched Ireland's first reverse vending machine for plastic bottles. It is a fantastic initiative for which the committee deserves great credit. I ask the Government to take note of the initiative, which is one which might be rolled out nationally.

It was great to see a local village and a local town in County Monaghan make the national news headlines for all the right reasons. It was a positive news story and it was uplifting to see. I pay tribute to the hard work that went into getting to that level in a competition. There were long hours over many years that were finally rewarded in Glaslough yesterday. As Senator Hopkins said in her contribution, there is more to TidyTowns than picking up litter and floral displays. There is biodiversity, recycling and much more involved and great credit is deserved for that. In my book, all 918 entrants to the competition are winners. As a society, we are deeply indebted for all of the voluntary work people put into TidyTowns. As I left Glaslough late last night after a very enjoyable event, I said I would invite the Cathaoirleach, the Leader and all Members of the Seanad to come and see for themselves the beauty the village has to offer. I am sure the people there will open their arms to Senators who would all be enriched by the visit.