Tidy Towns soldier on in Kilnaleck
The Tidy Towns Committee in Kilnaleck have been working hard despite COVID-19 restrictions.
The virus may have forced the cancellation of the 2020 but members still achieved their goals for the year. Secretary of Kilnaleck Tidy Towns, Bernie Boylan, said that the committee have coped well this year and have managed to take all health and safety precautions on board in their endeavours.
Building on last year’s work, the committee tapped into the Town and Village Painting Scheme to give a fresh lick of paint to many premises in the town. The town was given a facelift with the help of Fleetwood paints, the top-class advice of Briody Hardware and grants courtesy of Cavan County Council.
“That has brought a great lift to the town,” Bernie said, extending her thanks to Brian Brady, the main painting contractor.
“He did a fantastic job,” said Bernie.
“We’re very fortunate that we have some of our CE workers - David, Vladimir, Adrian and Pascal - they worked tirelessly for the whole community. Those guys, they are litter picking, cutting the grass, maintaining all the green areas. Without them, there wouldn’t be any Tidy Towns in Kilnaleck,” she continued.
“They do Trojan work with the Crosserlough CE Scheme under their supervisor Bernie Lynch and we’re very proud of what they do,” added Bernie.”
The Tidy Town Committee also links in with the schools in the area to deliver a biodiversity programme. Local workshops are held in schools to promote biodiversity and sustainability in the area, though these were paused during the pandemic.
“We’ve also worked closely with the Men’s Shed, but we haven’t been able to do that during Covid unfortunately.
“Last year they were fantastic, they made some lovely decorations for Christmas around the town, which we are going to use again this year,” outlined Bernie.
Bernie praises the local people for their kindness and Christmas spirit. This year, a local resident, Harold Fagan, donated a Christmas tree to the Tidy Towns. The Chamber of Commerce and Crosserlough GFC are joining forces to light up the town for Christmas.
“We’re in the very fortunate position in that we have all the different clubs and societies in the area working very closely with us,” Bernie said.
“We have the CE workers, the Realtóg Centre, Crosserlough GFC, they’re a great help altogether, the local Kilnaleck Chamber of Commerce, the Men’s Shed and all the local businesses get in behind us. We are very, very lucky.”
The town has also managed to access funding for road improvements under the Kilnaleck Area Development and the Town and Village Renewal Scheme.
Funding has also been secured to improve the footpaths on the Church Road, which Bernie says is due to take place shortly.
“We are very grateful to Cavan County Council,” she said.
It’s safe to say that COVID-19 has not stopped the Kilnaleck Tidy Towns.
“If anything, I’d say we’re stronger. You can see the parish itself has a very strong structure,” said Bernie.
The committee is eager to make further enhancements in 2021 and improve on its score in the Tidy Towns Competition.
They have high hopes of continuing the painting scheme, carrying out further repairs to the surrounding roads and footpaths and resuming the biodiversity programme in the schools.