30 years of the kells tidy towns competition

Kells Tidy Towns is once again asking local people to spruce up their local areas as it launched its annual local competition for 2015.
The initiative was officially launched last week by Deputy Helen McEntee at SuperValu, Kells.
This year is the 55th year of the Kells committee and its participation in the national competition, as well as the 30th year of the local competition. Deputy McEntee said she was delighted to be associated with the committee as it was one of the groups she really admired.
A large crowd attended the launch, including Cllrs Darren O’Rourke, Sarah Reilly and Sean Drew.
On behalf of SuperValu, Kells, Larry O’Brien said he too was delighted to have been associated with Kells Tidy Towns over the past 20 years and he had seen great work being carried out over the years.
He said he was confident that Kells wasn’t far away from winning a national award.
The committee president and one of the longest-serving members, Seamus Grimes, complimented the work of the schools and their efforts in achieving An Taisce Green Flags.
Deputy McEntee emphasised that, this year, individuals, groups and businesses are being urged to nominate a neighbour for the competition.
There are 20 categories in this year’s competition and the closing date is Friday 7th August with judging to take place between 10th and 16th August. Entry forms are available from Brian Curran.
Mr Curran paid tribute to John Meehan, Hughie McConnell and Michael McGovern who go out every weekend to pick up litter and carry out other projects around Kells for the Tidy Towns group.
He also paid tribute to the community work of Kells Local Heroes and local artist Mark Smith.