Newsletter 08 November 2024

We Did It!!

Last Friday Ballincollig was named Ireland’s Tidiest Town 2024 in the SuperValu National Tidy Towns Competition.

Out of 904 entries Ballincollig won its twelfth Gold Medal, The County Award, The Regional Award and was deemed winner of The Large Urban Centre Category. At this point it was between Ballincollig, Westport, Ballinahown Co Westmeath and Blackrock Co Louth to win the ultimate prize and honour. When Minister Heather Humpheries announced the overall winner the excitement was palpable and tears of joy flowed. For 25 years Ballincollig has improved its performance every year and this year we came out on top by a single point.

We improved our performance in each of the 8 categories and increased our marks by 11 on 2023.

Since Friday it has been a busy week with lots going on.

Friday was a day filled with a lot of emotion as we remembered our late great friend and colleague Tony Whelan who sadly passed away 2 years ago last Friday. We were all so very fortunate to have known Tony and his work with Ballincollig Tidy Towns was unstinting. Tony is sadly missed and we dedicated our win to Tony.

May he Rest In Eternal Peace.

Ballincollig Ireland's Tidiest Town 2024

Celebrations at the Oriel

Two weeks ago we received a call from Aoife in The Oriel House Hotel to say that the hotel would like to host a reception for our volunteers on the night of the results. This lovely gesture was very welcome and after a long but exciting day it was lovely to walk into the hotel to be greeted by a large number of our volunteers.

It was so obvious how much the win meant to everyone involved.

We were treated to a beautiful hot buffet and drinks and the staff could not have been more attentive.

It was a very fitting place to celebrate our win and we are extremely grateful to Janice, Aoife, Michael and their team for their incredible kindness and hospitality.

Sunday Celebrations

Sunday morning it was business as usual and we had 38 volunteers plus 7 Transition Year Students out for our Weekly Litter Pick.

The TY Students were collecting leaves with Denis while the remaining volunteers were litter picking all over the community. There was a great air of excitement among the volunteers and constant blowing of horns from members of the community congratulating our Team. Pat collected 14 bags of general litter which included 3 bags from litter picks during the week.

Following the litter pick we got a huge surprise when we arrived at The Plaza. Mary and her amazing Team had a red carpet and balloons and the sound of Tina Turner singing “Simply the Best” . Waiting inside we were treated to more treats with a very special cake with 12 candles to represent achieving our 12th Gold Medal this year.

Our sincere thanks to Mary and her Team for their fantastic hospitality every Sunday Morning. We are so grateful as the Cuppa is as if not more important than the Litter Pick.

The 2024 Adjudication Report

Each year after the results are announced we receive the adjudicators report on their visits to Ballincollig. This is a very important document as it shows us where we have done well and more importantly where we can improve. It is well worth taking a few minutes to read this report as we received it.

Christmas is coming to Ballincollig

An important date for your diary’s.

Times Past 2023 – 2024

Next Monday night our very own Pat Clarke will launch the Times Past 2023-2024 Journal of Muskerry Local History Society.

Full details below

The last for 2024

This week Kevin O’Brien completed another 2 boxes in Ballincollig and what a fantastic difference he has made. Our thanks to Bord Gais for their support.

Back to normal!!

On Monday night it was back to normal as we held our Monthly Committee meeting with a packed agenda. Working on jobs to be done and planning our Winter Works. A good meeting with a great group.

Monday Morning

Early Monday morning Tom, Gay and Keith were working on Old Fort Road, cutting grass and collecting leaves. The lads made a big difference in a short period of time.

They went on then and collected sixty bags of leaves from Leesdale , six bags from Leecourt, and from Rosewood estate a number of bags of rubbish.

All the leaves were put into Compost Bay 1.

Nationwide in the GAA

Donal Hannigan Chairman of Ballincollig GAA Club extended an invitation to the BTT Team to come to the GAA Pavilion on Monday evening to watch the Special Tidy Towns episode of Nationwide together on the Big Screen.

We were delighted that we could all be together and we enjoyed tea and sandwiches courtesy of the Club. It was really great that we were joined by Con O’Sullivan and Brendan Murphy who were on the committee that started 25 years ago.

This was a very special night and the Pride in our Community was very evident

Thank you to everyone at Ballincollig GAA for their hospitality and for giving us this opportunity to share watching the progress together.

Moving to Solar

Another business in Ballincollig are preparing to move to solar power for their building.

Irish Bacon Slicers are preparing the roofs of 2 of their buildings for solar panels.

Another positive step.

🍁 Autumnal Colours 🍁

This week we took time out to look at the beautiful Autumnal Colours around Ballincollig. It is a beautiful time of the year and it changes every day. We encourage everyone to take time out to enjoy the beautiful surroundings we have here in Ballincollig.

Washing Time

On Thursday morning Keith started cleaning and sterilising the summer planter inserts. After washing off the bleach using some of the Harvested Water we left them on the pathway to get further washed by the rain. Once dried they will have their wicks replaced and then stored away until next year.

BTT on Tour!!

On Thursday night we were asked to visit our great neighbours and friends in Waterfall/Ballinora Tidy Towns as they held their end of year get together. 12 years ago we went to visit them as they started their Tidy Towns Journey to share ideas. What a journey they have been on and what a difference they have made. They were thrilled this year to increase by 15 marks but more importantly they were thrilled with their adjudicators very detailed report which has given them a great lift and guidance for 2025. Our sincere thanks to a great Team in Ballinora for a lovely evening

Watch these trees

Cork City Council Parks Department have commissioned an expert to carry out large carvings of these trees in the Western Car Park in The Regional Park … Watch out for the works which will be carried out in November.