SKERRIES made history last week by becoming the first Dublin town in 26 years to win the National Tidy Towns competition.
The seaside town’s Tidy Towns committee was presented with the award for tidiest large town and a prize of €10,000 at a ceremony at the Helix, DCU.
Skerries is only the second town from Dublin to receive the award, with Malahide’s win in 1990 being the only other instance.
Treasurer of the Skerries Tidy Towns committee, Maeve McGann, told Northside People how the announcement of their win took everybody by surprise.
“We were flabbergasted, we couldn’t believe it. We literally had no expectations of winning it this year after a biggish town won it last year. My immediate reaction was just complete and utter astonishment,” Maeve said.
Skerries has entered the competition annually since 1959, the second year after its formation. Maeve and the committee’s chairperson Anne Doyle have been leading Skerries’ Tidy Towns efforts for 30 years.
Twelve committee members and over 300 local volunteers worked very hard over the last year towards the town’s entry into the competition.
Maeve spoke about the surge of pride and community spirit that could be felt throughout Skerries in the days after the historic achievement.
“This is a ‘Team Skerries’ win. Everyone in the town is so delighted. People are so excited about the whole thing, it’s been talked about everywhere,” Maeve said.
“Skerries is renowned for its community spirit. It’s very well known for its volunteering in every aspect of the town, not just Tidy Towns,” she added.
Focused projects in all areas of the competition such as waste management, sustainability and natural amenities all contributed towards Skerries’ success. According to Maeve, it has already led to a visible rise in tourists visiting the town.
The committee will meet this week to review their campaign and decide how the town will invest the prize money.
It is expected that some of the money will be spent on building a commemorative object in Skerries to mark the town’s achievement.
REPORT: Daniel O’Connor
