Ennis named Ireland's tidiest town of 2021

The administrative centre of County Clare previously won the supreme prize of the SuperValu TidyTowns competition in 2005

Ennis has been awarded the title of Ireland's tidiest town in the national SuperValu TidyTowns competition, an annual contest organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development. The county town of County Clare previously won the overall prize in 2005 and has been pulling out all the stops to reclaim the title in recent years.

Ennis takes over from Glaslough in County Monaghan, which won the title in 2019. The competition was put on hold last year because of the pandemic.

Award winners

The TidyTowns competition rates participating localities on all aspects of their local environment. Over 200 prizes are awarded to the best under different categories. The total annual prize fund amounts to EUR 250,000, the bulk of which is awarded under the main competition with the remainder given in special prizes. Ireland’s Tidiest Town Award goes to the highest scoring entrant in the whole competition.

This year’s award ceremony took place in the Royal Dublin Society last Friday, and was attended by Heather Humphreys, Minister for Rural and Community Development, and Ian Allen, Managing Director of sponsors SuperValu and Centra.

The 2021 Category Award winners include:

• Ireland's Tidiest Village: Geashill in Co Offaly
• Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town: Abbeyleix in Co Laois
• Ireland’s Tidiest Large Town: Cobh in Co Cork
• Ireland’s Tidiest Large Urban Centre: Ennis, Co Clare. Ennis is a regular prize recipient here, having won the title in 2019 and on seven previous occasions since that category was introduced in 2006.

"Ennis first entered the SuperValu TidyTowns competition in 1959 and continue to showcase all that is good about community and volunteerism. Given the tremendous interest in the competition and the increasing efforts made by all entrants, it is a wonderful achievement to take the national title for a second time; this really demonstrates that resilience and determination do reap rewards," Minister Humphreys said, as quoted by public broadcaster ERR.

Funding allocation for TidyTowns committees

The Minister praised all the volunteers and other residents who put their community first during the Covid-19 pandemic "and continued to make their areas better places to live and work and to visit". The minister also announced a EUR 1.5 million funding allocation to support the work of individual TidyTowns committees around the country.

Ian Allen said on behalf of the sponsors that the "outstanding efforts and achievements" of all the category winners deserve praise and recognition. He pointed out that, at its heart, the SuperValu TidyTowns competition is "the public expression of the work countless individuals undertake to build community spirit and make their local area a better place in which to live and work".