Oldcastle wins the sweep stakes! Tidy Towns group delighted with litter lifter

Oldcastle Tidy Towns Committee took matters into their own hands to provide a street sweeping truck for the town.

This week, they were celebrating the delivery of the new street sweeper, which is expected to be a gamechanger for the town.

The local committee raised funds to buy the vehicle, which they say was badly needed when it came to dealing with litter in the town.

Chairman, Gerry McDermott said he was delighted that they were able to purchase the sweeper.

"We had been trying to get the County Council sweeper to come to Oldcastle, but it only came about once every two months or so, so we decided to invest in one ourselves," he explained.

The Tidy Towns Committee had some of their own funds from past donations and fundraisers and received discretionary funds as well as a personal donation from Cllr Peter Caffrey.

"We will be looking for sponsorship and holding other fundraisers to cover the tax, insurance, maintenance and running costs," Mr McDermott said.

"It won't be on the road straight away, we have to get it taxed and insured and get a driver, but we hope it will be in action soon, hopefully by the end of the month," he said.

"It is going to make a huge difference to us. We will have less litter picking and as our volunteers have a higher age profile that will be a big help. "It will also free us up for other projects, such as planting," he said.

Cllr Peter Caffrey said he was delighted to see the new vehicle arrive in Oldcastle.

"It is a great achievement for the Tidy Towns Committee. It will be a huge boost to the town. With the council sweeper, we wouldn't know when it was coming, cars would already be parked in the town and it wouldn't be able to sweep everywhere. It was also too wide for the footpaths and some of the housing estates," he said.