Limerick Blooms At Award Ceremony

27 towns and villages throughout County Limerick were last night honoured for their participation in the inaugural ‘Limerick in Bloom’ competition.

Patrickswell was named overall winner while Kilmallock, Oola and Strand were named winners of their respective categories. Limerick County Council, in conjunction with Shannon Development, launched the competition earlier this year as a motivational mechanism for the many small local based groups throughout the county to enhance the visual impact of their settlements by means of flower, tree and shrub planting.

Speaking during last night’s awards ceremony at the Woodlands House Hotel in Adare, Cllr. Francis Foley, Leas Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council, stated, “Limerick In Bloom is truly a celebration of community spirit, teamwork and an awareness of the natural environment. Such attributes are alive and well here in County Limerick and are evidenced by the participation of 27 towns and villages in this year’s competition.” He said that the success of the competition was a fine example of what could be achieved when the local authority and local groups came together for the benefit of communities across the County.

“Each of the participating communities should be congratulated for helping to make County Limerick a more attractive location to live, work and visit”, added Cllr. Foley. Commenting on the competition, Josephine Cotter-Coughlan, Director of Services, said, “The concept of promoting community involvement in the improvement and enhancement of the local environment has been developed and strengthened over the years by Limerick County Council. This has further been enhanced through the considerable involvement of community groups, tidy towns committees, residents associations and local businesses in the first ‘Limerick in Bloom Competition’.”

Adjudication took place during July and considered such factors as colour, size, variety, location and appropriateness of the various planting schemes along with the management of litter. The judging panel included Mr. Luke Griffin, who is the Vice-Chairman of International Entente Florale and a former Chairman of the International Entente Florale Jury.

Categories were based on population size with a first, second and third prize in each category of EUR1100, EUR550 EUR300 respectively. Category 1 catered for towns and villages with a population in excess of 700. First was Strand (83), Loughill/Glenbrohane (82) came second while Croagh/Kilmeedy (80) finished in third place. Category 2 was for population centres of between 300 and 700 people with Oola (82) finishing first, Broadford (81) in second and Foynes (80) in third place. Category 3 featured villages with a population less than 300. Kilmallock (79) came first, Bruff (78) was second and Askeaton (75) finished third. Patrickswell (84), which featured in Category 1, was named overall winner and received a cheque for EUR1,500.

FULL RESULTS:

Category 1
Askeaton Heritage and Tidy Towns Committee - 75
Bruff Tidy Towns - 78
Hospital Tidy Towns - 62
Kilfinnane Tidy Towns - 74
Kilmallock Tidy Towns - 79
Newcastle West Tidy Towns - 73
Patrickswell Tidy Towns - 84

Category 2
Athea Tidy Towns - 79
Foynes and District Community Council - 80
Glin Development Association - 65
Knocklong Tidy Towns - 79
Oola Tidy Towns - 82
Broadford Development Ltd - 81

Category 3
Ardpatrick Community Council - 79
Croagh Community Council - 80
Glenbrobane Tidy Towns, Garryspillane - 82
Kileedy Parish Community (Ashford) - 68
Kilfinny Community Council - 70
Kilmeedy Community Group - 80
Muintir na Tire – Templeglantine - 70
Strand Community Development Ltd - 83
Tournafulla Tidy Towns Committee - 61
Carrigkerry Development Group - 62
Colmanswell Community Council - 62
Loughill Community Development Association - 82

Residents Associations
Sharwood Residents, Newcastle West - 58
Glenside Residents Association, Annacotty - 85

Overall Prize
Patrickswell (84)

Further information on ‘Limerick In Bloom’ is available from the Community and Enterprise section of Limerick County Council on 061-496454.

Improvements To Drinking Water Quality In Rural County Limerick

A major step has been taken towards resolving drinking water quality issues for 2,300 households in County Limerick following the rollout of a major Design Build Operate (DBO) project.

Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr. John Gormley, T.D., today officially marked the completion of the project at a ceremony held in the Heritage Centre at Lough Gur. The €6 million project included a comprehensive programme of works on 18 privately sourced group water supply schemes across the county. The Lough Gur Group Water Scheme is the biggest scheme involved in the DBO project serving a total of 555 domestic houses, 120 farms and 61 other properties, including land and commercial/amenity activities.

The 17 other group schemes which have benefited from the project include: Baggottstown, Ballinvreena, Ballybricken, Ballyduff, Ballyorgan, Bulgaden, Newtown/Caherline, Cappagh, Carnane, Coshma/Killeen, Croagh/Farrendonnelly, Glenroe, Glenstal, Granagh, Griston, Kileedy and Kilfinny.

“The completion of this DBO project ensures that County Limerick remains to the fore in the national drive to eliminate sub-standard rural water supplies”, stated Councillor Kevin Sheahan, Cathaoirleach of Limerick County Council. He explained, “As far back as 1998, the EPA highlighted difficulties with the quality of privately owned group water schemes across the country. Since then considerable time and resources has been targeted at remedying deficiencies in the group water schemes.”

Commenting on the contribution of Group Water Scheme personnel, the Cathaoirleach said, “The headway made in dealing with substandard water supplies has only been possible through their hard work, dedication and spirit of partnership. I would particularly like to acknowledge the contribution of group scheme activists across County Limerick who, for many years, have worked tirelessly for the betterment of their neighbours and communities.”

According to Mr. Paul Crowe, Director, Transportation & Water Services, Limerick County Council, “I am delighted to see that the implementation of the rural water programme in Limerick has been successful thanks to the vibrant partnership approach between the group sector and the local authority working together to achieve a common objective.” “I wish to congratulate everybody involved in the delivery of this project for their steadfast commitment, the eighteen groups involved, the DBO Steering Group, Staff of the Rural Water Programme with Limerick County Council, the National Federation of Group Water Schemes and consultants T.J. O’Connor & Partners”, concluded Mr. Crowe.

The contract for the construction and long-term operation of water abstraction and treatment facilities was awarded to Electrical & Pump Services Ltd. (EPS) Mallow, Co. Cork. Works carried out included the provision of treatment plants, kiosks, refurbishment of existing pump houses, construction of concrete tanks, drilling of new source boreholes, and all associated site works and landscaping.

Along with the main DBO works of abstraction and treatment facilities construction by EPS, enabling works were carried out on a number of schemes for water conservation purposes. The works involved the refurbishment of critical sections of defective watermains on networks together with the installation of Universal Metering of connections to ensure that customers are vigilant in their water usage. A number of new concrete reservoirs are currently being built on three schemes.