Drogheda Borough Council issued the following Press Statement (below) today, Thursday, January 27th., announcing that the town had been nominated to represent Ireland in the 2011 Entente Florale competition.
DROGHEDA NOMINATED TO REPRESENT IRELAND
IN ENTENTE FLORALE COMPETITION
Drogheda Borough Council and Drogheda Tidy Towns Committee are delighted that the town has been nominated to represent Ireland in the Towns Category of Entente Florale 2011. Marie Eagleton, Chair of the Tidy Towns Committee said that “the nomination was a great boost for the Committee’s work and would provide focus to their endeavours for 2011″. The nomination was also welcomed by the Mayor, Councillor Paul Bell, who said that it was “a great honour which owes much to Drogheda’s excellent performance in both the National Tidy Towns Competition where we were again awarded a Gold Medal and the IBAL competition where we obtained 5th place”. Drogheda’s success to date has been built on excellent co-operation between the various groups and interests in the town. Entente Florale gives us a new opportunity to come together as Council, community, schools and businesses to showcase the town on an international platform. A Steering Committee to represent all sectors will be formed in the coming weeks to develop and implement an Entente Florale Action Plan. We are confident that Drogheda will do Ireland proud and that all the people of the town will play their part, big or small, in ensuring that Drogheda looks its very best for the occasion.
Cllr. Paul Bell, Mayor.
Marie Eagleton, Chair, Drogheda Tidy Towns Committee.
Note on Entente Florale : Entente Florale Europe is a European competition for Towns and Villages. Each participating Country puts forward a representative Town and Village. The Town and Village are visited by the Jury and an assessment is made. The competition was founded more than 25 years ago, initially between Great Britain and France. At present there are twelve member countries and further applicatiions are being processed. Organisation is by the ” Association Européenne du Fleurissement et du Paysage” (A.E.F.P.), a company incorporated under Belgian Law. Each participant country has its own organisation and is entitled to membership on the Board of Directors of the AEFP. The competition has enjoyed the support of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH) since its inception. In individual countries the competition is supported and organised by Ministries/Departments of Agriculture, Environment, Tourism as well as horticultural bodies and associations. In Ireland the lead Department is the Department of Heritage Environment and Local Government. The overall aim of the competition is the improvement of the quality of life for local urban and village communities. To this end the competition fosters: •the greening of towns and villages •flowers, shrubs, green spaces, parks •development which is environmentally and ecologically sensitive •educational and communication initiatives which promote environmental awareness.
April 19, 2011 at 9:56 am |
As a member of the community in Drogheda for the last thirty years I was delighted to hear of the town’s nomination to represent Ireland in the Towns Category of “Entente Florale 2011”.
I fear however that we, Drogheda, may prove to be less than successful in our endeavours to impress, given the state of our parks (meadows) at this present point in time, Easter week 2011.
During the last five years I have endeavoured to help improve and maintain the quality of life for those of us residing in Rope Walk, by picking up the beer cans, bottles and litter, removing the copious amounts of dog excrement and cutting the grass, using my own lawnmower, on a small section of parks area in front of our houses. The reason I decided to cut the grass in this small area was to maintain it in a neat and tidy condition, as opposed to the manner in which the main green area is left in after grass cutting by a contractor, i.e. large clumps of grass left to rot, leaving the green in a less than attractive condition.
As a result of the laying down of a new mains water supply to the houses last January, the small section of lawn in front of our houses has been dug up and left in a condition which best resembles a building site which has been vacated at the excavation stage, having been taken over by NAMA. Moreover, the beautiful flower bed in the main green area cannot be seen, due to the height of the grass surrounding it at present, 19th April, 2011.
If Drogheda is to be a serious and successful representative of our Country in this category, then I respectfully suggest that a more than major improvement is required in the management of this enterprise.
Brian Crinion,
Rope Walk Resident.