Ballinahown retains westmeath tidy towns crown

Ballinahown has retained its title as the tidiest town or village in Westmeath, clearly outscoring all other entrants in the county.

The results of the prestigious national competition were announced today, with Kilkenny taking the overall prize.

Its score of 320 points (out of 450) was nine more than the total earned by Ballinahown.

Westmeath's second tidiest entrant was Tyrellspass (on 288 points) followed by Glasson (282).

Athlone was the tidiest large town in Westmeath, and was fourth overall in the county, with 275 points.

In Roscommon, the village of Keadue took the 'county title' with 313 points.

The TidyTowns competition is organised by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and sponsored by SuperValu.

Interest in the competition has been consistently high in recent times with the number of entries exceeding 800 each year for the last four years.

* For more details, see this week's Westmeath Independent