The winners of Tidy Towns 2016 have been revealed
Skerries has been named as Ireland's tidiest town for 2016. The north Dublin centre also received the award of Ireland tidiest large town.
The town saw off competition from 859 other towns and villages in this year’s national competition. Winners were anounced today at The Helix in Dublin.
Other winners include Birdhill in Tipperary which claimed the award of Ireland's Tidiest Village.
Listowel in Co Kerry becomes Ireland's Tidiest Small Town for the second year running while Ennis in Co Clare was declared as Ireland's Tidiest Large Urban Centre.
The TidyTowns competition is organised by the Department of Arts, Heritage, Regional, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and sponsored by SuperValu.
Reports by county can be seen here.
Announcing the winners at a ceremony in Dublin, Regional Economic Development Minister Michael Ring said it was a fantastic achievement for Skerries.
"This is the first time Skerries has won the overall prize," he said. "Skerries first entered the competition in 1959 and their win today is evidence of their consistently achieving high standards in the competition at local and regional level."
Mr Ring (pictured) praised the annual tidy towns competition for building strong community links.
"Tidy towns is one of the most recognisable environmental initiatives in Ireland, but tidy towns is much bigger than that, it encompasses a way of life here in Ireland, where we live our lives showing respect for our neighbours and for nature," he added.
"It is clear that working together and getting things done increases peoples' pride in where they live and helps to build vibrant communities.
"This is why I am delighted to see this competition continues to sustain great interest, even after 58 years."
