Ballyjamesduff striving for Tidy Towns success

The dynamic Ballyjamesduff Tidy Towns Committee is striving with great vision to ensure that the town will be in line for major national honours over the next couple of years. A two-time winner of the national title in the '60s, the town is hoping to stage a comeback in the competition. Major clean-up projects have been completed and the town is festooned with a myriad formation of flowers. The illegal dumping along the river is the next major project on the agenda of the committee. Susan Willis, chairperson of the Tidy Towns Committee, explained that they meet every Tuesday night and embarked on a number of major projects that have now been successfully completed. They cleaned up the back laneway at the rear of the hotel, which had been the constant focus for illegal dumping. Large quantities of household waste was being dumped. Tommy O'Neill's plant hire company gave them a skip and a dumpster for a day and they removed no less than ten skips full of rubbish. They clipped back all the hedges and whitewashed the entire area and that put a complete end to the dumping. It all proves that derelict sites encourage illegal dumping. The next big challenge is to remove all the rubbish that has been dumped along the river in the town. "The river bank if the new dumping site - they are dumping black bags of household rubbish - that is now a serious problem, which we are determined to address," said Susan Willis. They will probably tackle it in the autumn or winter when the undergrowth has died down. The rubbish is all buried in the overgrowth at the side of the river. They will also be contacting Cavan County Council for some help in addressing the issue and may also make contact with the Office of Public Works (OPW). A large machine like a Hymac digger will really be required to remove all the rubbish. The town looks very colourful, courtesy of beautiful flower arrangements in the planters at various locations. They all have to be watered and fed twice a week. Susan Willis is the chairperson of the Tidy Towns Committee, Helen Smith is the vice chairperson, Eileen Lynch is the treasurer, Mary Genieve Reilly is the assistant treasurer and the PRO is Rosemary Galligan. Other general working committee members are Kevin Fox, Des Smith, Brendan Fox, Jimmy Smith and Trevor Smith. They are the hardcore of workers. The tidy towns judging takes place during the summer months and if a town qualifies, judges are believed to make a second visit. Ballyjamesduff won the tidy towns on two successive occasions in 1966 and 1967. The town is much larger now and there is lots more work to do to keep it looking well but Susan Willis that over the next few years they will once again be in the running for major honours. They derive funding from the blotto, courtesy of the Community Council once a year and they also organise a barbeque fundraiser, which is a very successful night. "We ask the business people to give a contribution and in exchange we give them two tickets to attend the function. Leonard Lynch, the local butcher in the town and his wife Rita, cook and supply the meat on the night." They also hope to organise a table quiz over the winter months.