REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE UNVEILING OF A PLAQUE TO HONOUR ARDAGH
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT MCALEESE AT THE UNVEILING OF A PLAQUE TO HONOUR ARDAGH AS WINNERS OF THE NATIONAL TIDY TOWN’S COMPETITION
Tá an-áthas orm bheith anseo libh inniu agus muid ag céiliúradh an ócáid mhór seo. Ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a chur in iúl daoibh as an chuireadh agus as fáilte a bhí caoin, cneasta agus croíúil.
I am delighted to be with you today in Ardagh to celebrate your fantastic achievement on once again winning the National Tidy Towns Competition last year. I very much appreciate the wonderful welcome which the members of the 17th Infantry Battalion, the Band of the Western Command, and everyone in Ardagh has given me.
In a fast moving world we tend to think of the quickest way of doing things – new roads and bypasses ensure that we get from A to B quicker than at other periods in our history. But the downside is what you miss. To explore this country’s real treasures, its beauty spots, beautiful towns and villages, you invariably have to part company with the national primary route, go off the beaten track and explore for yourself the hidden treasures that greet the eye around many a corner on many Irish minor roads. That’s where you will find most of our outstanding towns and villages which have led the way in the Tidy Towns competition.
Ardagh is one such treasure, a product of the last great expansion in town and village construction which took place in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. But like many of our towns and villages, it was to experience economic and physical decline over the years. Tidy Towns changed all that. In many ways, this place symbolises not just what this incredibly successful voluntary movement has achieved, but also the competition’s evolving influence in promoting environmental awareness and pride in our own place.
Success in a competition which continues to draw over 700 entrants every year doesn’t come easily or instantly. This village whose success we are celebrating today, has evolved with the Tidy Towns Competition. Starting with the restoration of the unique clock tower in the 1960s it has been a long and, I’m sure, a sometimes arduous journey. But Ardagh has shown its capacity to adapt to the new challenges which the competition has thrown down to entrants from time to time – most recently when a distinctively environmental dimension was added, with an emphasis on improving access to natural amenities, protecting our built heritage and developing wildlife areas. Ardagh rose to the challenge magnificently and is now setting the standard for others to follow. I have been told that the Adjudicator’s report from last year’s competition described this as a village which through hard work, careful development, landscaping and litter control is ranked amongst the great villages of Europe. High praise indeed, and entirely merited from what I have already seen.
The people who designed the village in the first place – just like the dedicated Tidy Towns Committees who have restored its architectural treasures - demonstrated a real sense of place, an understanding of the linkages which people have with the soil of Longford and with the generations who have gone before. You have shown a very evident determination to carry on this great tradition and to pass on to the next generation a rich legacy of pride in their heritage, their community and their environment. One of the most important gifts we can give our young people is an appreciation of their community and of the responsibility we all share to preserve and contribute both to the spirit and environment of that community. You have achieved that superbly here in Ardagh and I warmly commend you on all of your hard work.
To win the national award in any major competition you have to be very good; to win it twice in the last 3 years means that Ardagh has achieved greatness in Tidy Towns. That achievement is the result of the whole community. But I would like to single out two people for particular mention: Seamus Kenny and Pat Farrell. They have shown flair and imagination in keeping Ardagh’s name in the frame in this and other competitions. You know only too well the scale of the success which Seamus and Pat, together with all of the Committee members, have been so instrumental in achieving for Ardagh.
I would also like to warmly commend the Department of the Environment and Local Government for the energy and imagination with which they have promoted the Tidy Towns Competition, bringing new life and pride to so many of our towns and villages.
It is clear from talking you, that the Committee here is not content to rest on its laurels; every success simply acts as spur to even greater effort as Ardagh raises the bar ever higher in Tidy Towns. What has been achieved here is something that everyone in Ardagh can feel justly proud. Further success, I have no doubt lies ahead.
Mo bhuíochas libh arís as an chaoin-chuireadh. Gúim gach rath agus séan oraibh san am atá le teacht.