Cork cleans up as nine areas win prizes at TidyTowns awards ceremony

Nine Cork towns, villages, and islands were recognised at this year’s SuperValu TidyTowns awards.

The awards ceremony, held in Croke Park in Dublin, saw 600 TidyTowns volunteers from across Ireland in attendance, with 929 towns competing for the prestigious awards.

Organisers of the awards said this is the highest number of entries ever received since the competition’s inception in 1958.

Among the Cork winners at this year’s event, Rosscarbery was named as Ireland’s Tidiest Village for 2025, with a €5,000 prize fund.

Fermoy was also recognised under the large town/village urban centre category for the Gum Litter Taskforce Award, seeing €2,000 allocated to the Fermoy TidyTowns Association.

Glanworth Tidy Towns was recognised as a regional runner-up in the Waters and Communities Award, with a €500 prize allocated to the group; Kilworth TidyTowns received third place and €700 under the EPA Circular Economy Award; and the Coolagown Development Group received a highly commended certificate and €500 under the EPA Circular Economy Award.

In the Island Award category, Sherkin Island received a highly commended certificate and €500, and Bere Island was crowned the national winner, with a €1,000 prize.

Ballyphehane Tidy Towns received a highly commended certificate under the Young Person in Tidy- Towns Award; and Boherbue Tidy- Towns was crowned the national winner under the Town Centre First Award, with a prize of €2,500.

Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht Dara Calleary announced the awards, with Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim named Ireland’s Tidiest Town overall, as well as Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.

Mr Calleary said the standard of competition was “exceptionally high this year in all categories, with a record 929 entries received overall from the almost 1,000 active groups nationwide”. 

He said: “I want to congratulate all the winners, across all the various categories.

“In particular, I recognise the vital role of volunteers across the country who are working so hard all year round to ensure our communities are vibrant, sustainable places to live, work, and visit.

“Investment in our communities through this wonderful competition reaps long-term rewards for all, as showcased by the winning groups.”

At the awards ceremony, Mr Calleary also announced investment of €1.5m in funding to support the work of TidyTowns groups in their continued efforts to make their towns and villages better places to live, work, and visit.

Luke Hanlon, managing director of SuperValu, said the company is “inspired by the phenomenal pride and dedication of more than 30,000 volunteers across 929 committees, who together have given over 1m hours to their communities this year alone”.

“It’s heartening to see that 70% of groups have been active for more than 10 years, demonstrating a remarkable legacy of commitment and civic engagement.

“The commitment of volunteers and our independent retailers, who consistently go above and beyond for their local areas, is proof that local action can create real lasting change, transforming our streets and protecting biodiversity.”

For more information, visit: www.tidytowns.ie.