Date Published: 14-Apr-2011

There were reports recently of a public meeting being called to consider a Galway entry for the Tidy Towns Competition and there mentions of clean-ups about the town.

I do not know what the outcome of the meeting was, but can I say that, in my innocence, I had always assumed that the city went in for the contest. Or maybe this was merely a reorganisation of something which has been going on for some time.

I am more than aware of the remarkable work done by the ‘tidy districts and gardens’ movement. The annual presentation ceremonies to districts and to individual gardeners show what a remarkable effort is made by people in pursuit of their hugely attractive hobby.

Certainly, in the case of the Tidy Towns Contest, the towns which enter and make the effort do benefit in presentation, in perception, in publicity and surely, in business as a result of any success. One has only to think of the remarkable record of a place like Westport, Newport, Tyrrellspass, and especially the sheer delight of walking the streets of Westport when it is decked out in all its finery for the contest.

That is not to say that they merely make the effort for a few weeks and then let the town slide back into a poorer state. Their myriad of flower boxes, hanging gardens, attention to detail of cleanliness on the streets, and the pristine look of the town right through the year – even in the dreaded dankness of deepest Winter – is an inspiration to anyone passing through.

The waterways in Westport are an example to the rest of the country. Think of what we could do here in Galway if the same civic pride and individual effort was applied to hanging baskets and other such efforts. Of course, it has to be pointed out that, in some cases along by the canals, flower boxes were put out and some hooligans pulled up the flowers and threw them into the river.

The tendency in such a beautifully presented town as Westport is to stop and maybe have a meal, browse around through its shops and cafes, stroll the streets at leisure. This is true now of Westport and was certainly true of Tyrrellspass in its prime when it won the Tidy Towns Contest and had people simply stopping to marvel at its greens and its general preservation.

Now, places like Westport and Tyrrellpass had the advantage of being closely-knit communities and in the fact that they both revolved around an ancient centre . . . but the centre of Galway is referred to as ‘mediaeval Galway’ and it is hardly sprawling London!

If we took an area from Eyre Square to The West, we would have most of the ancient town within our circumference . . . but what a clean-up would be needed before we even began to think of featuring in the Tidy Towns Contest. We would have to start with our waterways. Far from making Galway The Venice of Ireland, they highlight how shabbily we treat our rivers and canals.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.