Four Cork towns secure Gold Medals in the Tidy Towns Awards

Clonakilty, Ballincollig, Youghal and Cobh have won Gold Medals at the national Tidy Towns Awards.

Cork also had several Silver Medal winners including Coolagown, Rosscarbery, Bantry, Kinsale, Skibbereen and Carrigaline.

The town of Glaslough in Monaghan was named the overall winner out if 918 different towns, suburbs and villages across the country.

In Cork, there were a number of Bronze Medal winners including; Rathbarry, Kilbrittain, Lislevane, Eyeries, Ballydehob, Castletownroche Timoleague, Millstreet, Macroom and Bandon.

In the County awards category, Coolagown, Ballincollig and Clonakilty took home winning titles with Castletownroche, Cobh and Rosscarbery highly commended for their efforts also.

Kilworth, Kilbrittain and Rathbarry also received recognition for their work over the year.

In the County endeavour awards, Kanturk, Waterfall and Ahiohill took home their area awards for Cork North, South and West respectively.

As well as these group awards, Ronan McMahon from SuperValu TidyTowns Kinsale was a runner up in the Community Hero Awards.

Cobh Zero Waste was highly commended for their work in waste prevention and Glouthaune came third in the Sustainable Development Award.

In the Island awards, Sherkin Island was recognised and Bere Island was the National Award winner for 2019.

Minister for Rural and Community Development Michael Ring said: "The work of all those involved in the TidyTowns effort results in the attractive and welcoming towns and villages we see all over the country, and from which we all benefit."

"It is this passion and pride that has made our towns and villages not only attractive and welcoming for visitors, but have created a ‘sense of place’ for those who live, work and raise families there. That is why this competition has continued to flourish for more than 60 years."

"All of the towns and villages involved in the competition across the country should benefit from this investment. Wherever you have active Tidy Towns committees, it gives the town a real sense of pride and engagement, and creates a great atmosphere for both residents and visitors alike.”

Minister Ring also announced a special allocation of €1.4 million to support the work of individual TidyTowns Committees around the country to assist them in their efforts to enhance their towns and villages.

The TidyTowns competition is organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development and sponsored by SuperValu who have supported the competition since 1992.