'What a Year It Has Been’: Leitrim town looks back on historic year and Tidy Town title

Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns has published a thank-you message after a historic year that saw them crowned Ireland’s Tidiest Town.

The group were named Ireland’s Tidiest Town at a ceremony in Croke Park in October. It marks the first time a Leitrim town has ever claimed the overall award, while they were also named Ireland’s Tidiest Small Town.

“As the year comes to a close and a new year is about to begin, we would like to thank all of our hardworking volunteers for all you have done to make 2025 the best year we could ever imagine for Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns,” they said in a Facebook post.

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“What a year it has been. We got so much work done and created so many beautiful projects and spaces in town.”

They also thanked Leitrim County Council, the Carrick Chamber of Commerce and all the businesses who have supported them this year.

The seven members of the Carrick-on-Shannon Tidy Towns thought they might win in the small town category when they made the trip up to Dublin in October, but were “delighted” to win the top prize, according to chairperson John Gaffey.

“We were quite shocked, but when we saw that we had won the regional then we thought we must be in with a shout,” said Gaffey on the train back to Carrick-on-Shannon, where a reception was held in the Market Yard for them.

Carrick-on-Shannon, Ireland’s smallest town, finished third in last year’s competition. Gaffey believes it was the creativity they showed this year that made the difference, as they ran a seed exchange and a project to plant healthy ash trees around the area.

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On top of that, they added little touches like the boat of rowers up near Summerhill, small pieces of art, and a selfie bench.

“This year we had such a big effort, we have so many volunteers, we had 60–70 volunteers … any walls that were looking dirty, we were out painting them, you know just little things, we didn’t leave a stone unturned.”