Julianstown District Community Association

PRIDE OF PLACE AWARDS NIGHT PRESENTED AND HOSTED BY MEATH COUNTY COUNCIL 2017

On Thursday 26th October Julianstown Tidy towns were invited to attend the Municipal Pride of Place Awards in the Conyngham Arms Hotel in Slane which is run by Meath County Council to encourage volunteers with the excellent work they carry out in the many villages and towns of Meath.  It was an exciting night with more than 90 local groups represented there.  I am delighted to tell that we started off the night with Julianstown winning the first prize of the night for its Youth Project.  Jim O’Connor and the children from Ballygarth Manor wanted to help our declining bee population and planted a beautiful Wildflower Meadow in the Estate. They then planted Sunflowers all around the village!  We have 97 bee species in Ireland: the honeybee, 20 species of bumblebee, and 76 species of solitary bee. Bees are the most important pollinator of crops and native plant species in Ireland. They are a key component of our wildlife and one of the busiest, least appreciated work forces we have. A study from the Department of the Environment found that bees are worth €53m a year to the economy. Food for thought!

Next up was the category small village and Julianstown won first for this!  Well done all who helped make this possible! You have to admit the village does look very well all year round.

The Lime Kiln won first prize for its beautiful shop front and John and Jackie should be very proud of how the premises look to all the passersby.  You may recall that the Judge for the National Tidy Towns was also enchanted by the premises. The gastro pub and shop looks stunning all year round!

You may wonder how Julianstown is so clean given all the traffic that goes through our village, well, it’s mainly all down to Mary Logue and well deserved she won Volunteer of the Year. Thank you to every single volunteer; you are just wonderful and a credit to our lovely village. Thank you so much for the weeding, strimming, mowing the grass or helping out at our events for the village. Community is what matters and helping each other. Great night and well done again.  Congratulations also to Sonairte on winning three awards, and Sevitt Hall for their housing estate!

Cathaoirleach Paddy Meade, Cllr. Eimear Ferguson, Cllr. Wayne Harding, Cllr. Stephen McKee, Cllr. Sharon Tolan, Cllr. Tom Kelly presenting Mary Logue with Volunteer of the Year Certificate .