Towns around the State have begun preparing for this year's Tidy Towns competition, was launched in Dublin today by Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Mr Pat "the Cope" Gallagher.
Mr Gallagher said the competition had "transformed the physical appearance of so many of Ireland's towns and cities".
This year's Tidy Towns committees will also compete in a new initiative, the "Race against Waste - Tidy Towns Project", which will run parallel with the main competition and have a separate prize fund of €5,000.
More than 700 communities and 24,000 volunteers regularly enter the contest, run by the Department of the Environment with SuperValu as the principal sponsor. Last year the overall award went to Keadue in Co Roscommon.
Entries for this year's competition will be accepted until May 14th and the prizewinners will be announced in early September.
