Awards 2024
Inaugural Joe Connolly Award presented at Monaghan Tidy Towns Annual Awards Night as Pocket Forest project launched.
Monaghan Tidy Towns added a taster of the new pocket forest project to their annual awards presentations to a wide range of businesses and individuals from across the town, all of whom have been making an important contribution to the TidyTowns effort. Monaghan Tidy Towns’ Chairperson, Emer Brennan said, “This is a special year when we can finally celebrate our first gold medal award. Everyone has really made an important effort to help the town look its best again this year. In June we were delighted to be named the second cleanest town in Ireland by IBAL. On November 1st we added 15 points to our TidyTowns score and gained a gold medal as well as a county award. Visiting adjudicators frequently point to the high standard of presentation of businesses and shops in the town. The Committee is very grateful to everyone who has done their bit to keep the town looking well. These awards have been one of the foundation stones for our continued improvement in our Tidy Towns scores for well over ten years now. The committee would like to thank everyone who has made a contribution to the growing success of Monaghan Town in the TidyTowns National Competition. The TidyTowns effort takes into account more than the work of the committee and volunteers, it encompasses the work of the community in keeping their own businesses, homes, gardens well presented and nature friendly, the work of schools on their Green Flags. the work of council ground staff and support staff, particularly horticulturalist Michael Carroll, Carol Lambe and Biodiversity Officer Patricia Mc Creesh, not to mention the involvement of so many other interconnected voluntary organisations in the town.”
“We are especially grateful for our council horticulturalist Michael Carroll who has brought great innovation to landscaping and of course council ground-staff for their hard work. The council now has Climate Action Officers, a new Heritage Officer to add to the Biodiversity Officer. This is great support for our plan to promote Monaghan as a “Biodiversity Town”. We really appreciate the support of St Joseph’s CE Scheme, The Men’s Group, the Men’s Shed and all our volunteers and resident’s groups. Council staff on the ground deserve a special mention for their determiniation to lift the IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) result from the mid 20’s to 2nd place nationally. All this combined with the excellent presentation of businesses in the town is making a big difference to our Tidy Towns results and has been invaluable in helping towards our ambition to reach gold medal status. Now that we have a gold medal, we have to keep it, so tonight, apart from announcing our awards we are launching a new project for residential areas, as we know that this is an area we can improve on.”
“Our Climate Action funded “Pocket Forests” project is focused on promoting the urban biodiversity of the town. The project will be delivered by Stepping Stones Forests.”
John Kiberd from Stepping Stones Forests then made a presentation on the potential of the proposed “pocket” forests project proposed for 2025. Stepping Stones Forests have been creating these little densely planted forests in a range of locations across Dublin including parks, housing estates and school grounds. They are a fast way of introducing and increasing biodiversity as well as reducing carbon. As Monaghan is the decarbonisation town in the county this is a project that Tidy Towns is looking forward to.
Following the Stepping Stones presentation there was a tribute paid to secretary of Monaghan TidyTowns up to 2007, Joe Heron, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Raymond Aughey who was chairperson when Joe was secretary spoke of Joe and his contribution.
“Joe Heron, came to Monaghan Town from Trinity College and was CEO of Monaghan Chamber of Commerce for a number of years. He revitalized the TidyTowns Committee and developed the very first Development Plan. The idea for an annual awards night was part of that plan so it is fitting that we pay tribute to him tonight.
Joe was our former colleague, husband to Louise, dad to Danny and Joshua, and friend to everyone who ever knew him. Joe was a colleague, friend, confidant, raconteur and a comedian. He was thoughtful, kind, empathetic, a consummate professional and a true gent. Monaghan and the world is a better place for his all-too-short half century innings. May he rest in peace.” After those assembled rose to pay tribute, the business of the awards night began.
The Chairperson said, “This year our independent judges were provided by Blackrock Tidy Towns who came to visit us in Monaghan. Blackrock are this year’s national winners of the Small Town category. One of the great benefits of Tidy Towns is the networking that exists between groups both within the county and across the country and we were lucky enough to learn a lot on a fieldtrip to Blackrock this year,” she said.
The award winners were as follows:
Best Shop Front was Wards Pharmacy. The judges loved the traditional façade, floral display and clean lines. The pavement outside was immaculate, demonstrating civic spirit and responsibility, with attractive shop window arrangement.
Best Shop for Floral Display was Mc Cleary’s Londis, also of New Terrace for their year-round colourful array of boxes and hanging basket.
Best Pub posed a dilemma for the judges which resulted in a joint award to The Squealing Pig which was painted in attractive colours and adorned with a stunning array of window boxes, while the smaller frontage of Andys caught the eye with attractive heritage colours.
Best Business Front was as always, a competitive section this year and the judges chose the recently vibrantly painted Wilkie Flanagan Solicitors for its stunning colours and stone window boxes resplendent with colour.
Best Service Station was, once again, Sam’s Bridge/Maxol at Coolshannagh where attention to litter is always first class and an excellent example to all.
This year the judge’s particular interest in sustainability ensured that the Best Window Display went to Utopia on Glaslough Street. Judges were highly impressed with the Harvest Time Blues themed display on show at the time.
The Hospitality category includes hotels, restaurants and B&Bs and saw the award return to the Westenra Hotel, admired for not only for its tasteful heritage status but for its superbly vibrant floral and pollinator friendly display, something we would like to see replicated across the town. On hand to receive the award, Frank Mc Enaney was thanked for his support for Tidy Towns over many years.
In the Green Estate category, Mullaghmatt-Cortolvin continue to win out for the lead they are taking in biodiversity and sustainability actions. Mullaghmatt Cortolvin has its own biodiversity plan and has accessed funding to implement it. Judges suggested that this group are an example to others. A small estates awards was shared by Cathedral Walk, which the judges described as “charming” and Woodlands, which contributed a large number of nominations to the Best Garden category.
The re-introduction of the Hall of Fame Award brought success for Dinkins Café. This ward signifies excellence in the presentation of a premises in the town over many years. Dinkins was stunning on judging day and was the easy winner.
The Best Garden Awards were expanded this year and nominees included Eugene Bradley, Dr Mutu, Joe Smyth, Paula Mc Kenna, Garret Smyth, Simon Waddington, Dirma Mc Girr, Saied Pirani, Roisin Smyth, Marian Quigley, Anne Murphy, Paschal Markey, Susan Swift, Phyllis Mc Quilan, Kathryn Mc Mahon,, Laura Allister, Elaine Hyde, Martin Mc Aleer, Fiona Lambe, Olena, Paula Pilskalne and Bernie Lappin.
A new category “Kerb Appeal”, introduced for residents to use flowers and planting to brighten our streets and estates was won by Elaine Hyde, Westenra Tce.
The winner for Large Garden was Olena from New Terrace while Bernie Lappin took the award for the small garden and the overall award of the Coogan Cup, donated by avid gardener Francie Coogan RIP.
This year’s Community Heroes Awards went to Justine Erskine, Rehab, Michael O’Hare, the National Learning Network for their bee recording project and Mise Day Services for their work in keeping the Diamond Car Park and the Clones Road area litter-free. The Men’s Group were honoured for their fantastic support and success as County Monaghan’s Voluntary Group of the year and their many excellent projects including the most recent, the woodland classroom at St Mary’s Boys School.
A new award was introduced to honour a long-time community hero in the late Joe Connolly, members of Joe’s family were on hand to present the award to Brian Finnegan, recently retired from the staff at Monaghan MD, Brian was determined to see the town raise its score for both IBAL and TidyTowns and its fitting that his dedication be recognised and that he should be the first recipient of the Joe Connolly award.
Senator Robbie Gallagher paid tribute to Joe Connolly, a true Monaghan gentleman, and the community spirit and example he had provided in the town for so many years.
The Tidy Towns Committee would like to thanks all those who attended to support the award winners on the night. Special thanks to Phil Collins and Rosanna Myles for all their support with the organisation of the garden awards, to Blackrock Tidy Towns for their insightful judging of the other categories and to Bernie O Hanrahan for her valuable assistance during the evening.
Monaghan Tidy Towns added a taster of the new pocket forest project to their annual awards presentations to a wide range of businesses and individuals from across the town, all of whom have been making an important contribution to the TidyTowns effort. Monaghan Tidy Towns’ Chairperson, Emer Brennan said, “This is a special year when we can finally celebrate our first gold medal award. Everyone has really made an important effort to help the town look its best again this year. In June we were delighted to be named the second cleanest town in Ireland by IBAL. On November 1st we added 15 points to our TidyTowns score and gained a gold medal as well as a county award. Visiting adjudicators frequently point to the high standard of presentation of businesses and shops in the town. The Committee is very grateful to everyone who has done their bit to keep the town looking well. These awards have been one of the foundation stones for our continued improvement in our Tidy Towns scores for well over ten years now. The committee would like to thank everyone who has made a contribution to the growing success of Monaghan Town in the TidyTowns National Competition. The TidyTowns effort takes into account more than the work of the committee and volunteers, it encompasses the work of the community in keeping their own businesses, homes, gardens well presented and nature friendly, the work of schools on their Green Flags. the work of council ground staff and support staff, particularly horticulturalist Michael Carroll, Carol Lambe and Biodiversity Officer Patricia Mc Creesh, not to mention the involvement of so many other interconnected voluntary organisations in the town.”
“We are especially grateful for our council horticulturalist Michael Carroll who has brought great innovation to landscaping and of course council ground-staff for their hard work. The council now has Climate Action Officers, a new Heritage Officer to add to the Biodiversity Officer. This is great support for our plan to promote Monaghan as a “Biodiversity Town”. We really appreciate the support of St Joseph’s CE Scheme, The Men’s Group, the Men’s Shed and all our volunteers and resident’s groups. Council staff on the ground deserve a special mention for their determiniation to lift the IBAL (Irish Business Against Litter) result from the mid 20’s to 2nd place nationally. All this combined with the excellent presentation of businesses in the town is making a big difference to our Tidy Towns results and has been invaluable in helping towards our ambition to reach gold medal status. Now that we have a gold medal, we have to keep it, so tonight, apart from announcing our awards we are launching a new project for residential areas, as we know that this is an area we can improve on.”
“Our Climate Action funded “Pocket Forests” project is focused on promoting the urban biodiversity of the town. The project will be delivered by Stepping Stones Forests.”
John Kiberd from Stepping Stones Forests then made a presentation on the potential of the proposed “pocket” forests project proposed for 2025. Stepping Stones Forests have been creating these little densely planted forests in a range of locations across Dublin including parks, housing estates and school grounds. They are a fast way of introducing and increasing biodiversity as well as reducing carbon. As Monaghan is the decarbonisation town in the county this is a project that Tidy Towns is looking forward to.
Following the Stepping Stones presentation there was a tribute paid to secretary of Monaghan TidyTowns up to 2007, Joe Heron, who sadly passed away earlier this year. Raymond Aughey who was chairperson when Joe was secretary spoke of Joe and his contribution.
“Joe Heron, came to Monaghan Town from Trinity College and was CEO of Monaghan Chamber of Commerce for a number of years. He revitalized the TidyTowns Committee and developed the very first Development Plan. The idea for an annual awards night was part of that plan so it is fitting that we pay tribute to him tonight.
Joe was our former colleague, husband to Louise, dad to Danny and Joshua, and friend to everyone who ever knew him. Joe was a colleague, friend, confidant, raconteur and a comedian. He was thoughtful, kind, empathetic, a consummate professional and a true gent. Monaghan and the world is a better place for his all-too-short half century innings. May he rest in peace.” After those assembled rose to pay tribute, the business of the awards night began.
The Chairperson said, “This year our independent judges were provided by Blackrock Tidy Towns who came to visit us in Monaghan. Blackrock are this year’s national winners of the Small Town category. One of the great benefits of Tidy Towns is the networking that exists between groups both within the county and across the country and we were lucky enough to learn a lot on a fieldtrip to Blackrock this year,” she said.
The award winners were as follows:
Best Shop Front was Wards Pharmacy. The judges loved the traditional façade, floral display and clean lines. The pavement outside was immaculate, demonstrating civic spirit and responsibility, with attractive shop window arrangement.
Best Shop for Floral Display was Mc Cleary’s Londis, also of New Terrace for their year-round colourful array of boxes and hanging basket.
Best Pub posed a dilemma for the judges which resulted in a joint award to The Squealing Pig which was painted in attractive colours and adorned with a stunning array of window boxes, while the smaller frontage of Andys caught the eye with attractive heritage colours.
Best Business Front was as always, a competitive section this year and the judges chose the recently vibrantly painted Wilkie Flanagan Solicitors for its stunning colours and stone window boxes resplendent with colour.
Best Service Station was, once again, Sam’s Bridge/Maxol at Coolshannagh where attention to litter is always first class and an excellent example to all.
This year the judge’s particular interest in sustainability ensured that the Best Window Display went to Utopia on Glaslough Street. Judges were highly impressed with the Harvest Time Blues themed display on show at the time.
The Hospitality category includes hotels, restaurants and B&Bs and saw the award return to the Westenra Hotel, admired for not only for its tasteful heritage status but for its superbly vibrant floral and pollinator friendly display, something we would like to see replicated across the town. On hand to receive the award, Frank Mc Enaney was thanked for his support for Tidy Towns over many years.
In the Green Estate category, Mullaghmatt-Cortolvin continue to win out for the lead they are taking in biodiversity and sustainability actions. Mullaghmatt Cortolvin has its own biodiversity plan and has accessed funding to implement it. Judges suggested that this group are an example to others. A small estates awards was shared by Cathedral Walk, which the judges described as “charming” and Woodlands, which contributed a large number of nominations to the Best Garden category.
The re-introduction of the Hall of Fame Award brought success for Dinkins Café. This ward signifies excellence in the presentation of a premises in the town over many years. Dinkins was stunning on judging day and was the easy winner.
The Best Garden Awards were expanded this year and nominees included Eugene Bradley, Dr Mutu, Joe Smyth, Paula Mc Kenna, Garret Smyth, Simon Waddington, Dirma Mc Girr, Saied Pirani, Roisin Smyth, Marian Quigley, Anne Murphy, Paschal Markey, Susan Swift, Phyllis Mc Quilan, Kathryn Mc Mahon,, Laura Allister, Elaine Hyde, Martin Mc Aleer, Fiona Lambe, Olena, Paula Pilskalne and Bernie Lappin.
A new category “Kerb Appeal”, introduced for residents to use flowers and planting to brighten our streets and estates was won by Elaine Hyde, Westenra Tce.
The winner for Large Garden was Olena from New Terrace while Bernie Lappin took the award for the small garden and the overall award of the Coogan Cup, donated by avid gardener Francie Coogan RIP.
This year’s Community Heroes Awards went to Justine Erskine, Rehab, Michael O’Hare, the National Learning Network for their bee recording project and Mise Day Services for their work in keeping the Diamond Car Park and the Clones Road area litter-free. The Men’s Group were honoured for their fantastic support and success as County Monaghan’s Voluntary Group of the year and their many excellent projects including the most recent, the woodland classroom at St Mary’s Boys School.
A new award was introduced to honour a long-time community hero in the late Joe Connolly, members of Joe’s family were on hand to present the award to Brian Finnegan, recently retired from the staff at Monaghan MD, Brian was determined to see the town raise its score for both IBAL and TidyTowns and its fitting that his dedication be recognised and that he should be the first recipient of the Joe Connolly award.
Senator Robbie Gallagher paid tribute to Joe Connolly, a true Monaghan gentleman, and the community spirit and example he had provided in the town for so many years.
The Tidy Towns Committee would like to thanks all those who attended to support the award winners on the night. Special thanks to Phil Collins and Rosanna Myles for all their support with the organisation of the garden awards, to Blackrock Tidy Towns for their insightful judging of the other categories and to Bernie O Hanrahan for her valuable assistance during the evening.