Tidy Towns 2008 Competition

The BME Tidy Towns Group submitted their entry, on behalf of the village, for the 2008 competition in May. Assessment of participating towns is carried out by an independent panel of adjudicators appointed by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and takes place during the months of June, July and August each year. This assessment is conducted in secret and on unspecified dates.

Each entrant is assessed under ten criteria with a total of 400 marks available as follows -

Overall Developmental Approach (50 marks)
The Built Environment (50 marks)
Landscaping (50 marks)
Wildlife and Natural Amenities (50 marks)
Litter Control (50 marks)
Tidiness (30 marks)
Waste Minimisation (20 marks)
Residential Areas (40 marks)
Roads, Street, and Back Areas (50 marks)
General Impression (10 marks)

Hopefully, we will improve our score this year. Keeping the village free of litter and tidy is a daunting task, but it can be relieved if everybody – residents and visitors alike – do their bit. Please, do not drop litter; place it in the bin or take it home with you. Residents of the village can be a great help, providing they are able, if they maintain the immediate area around their doorstep litter and weed free.

Don’t forget! The Ballymore Eustace Tidy Towns Group carries out a clean-up around the village every Monday evening, weather permitting, throughout the summer. We meet in the Square at 7pm. All are welcome to join us and lend a hand! Bring gloves, a trowel, and yourselves to help us pick up litter and rubbish, and to remove weeds along the walkways and paths.

Ballymore GAA Notes Thanks to everybody who bought a club membership. The moneyis needed to help runthe club for the coming year. The first draw for 500 euro took place and the lucky winner is Michael Grace.Match ReportsBallymore V BallyteagueBallymore finished this game with a 2 point loss to Ballyteague.Ballymore had a poor first half performance and went into the break 5 points to 2 behind. Ballyteague started the second halfwith 3 unanswered points. Ballymore respondedwith their best spell of the game. They scored 6 six points to level the game. However Ballyteaguerallied and scored the final two points to win the match.Ballymore V ConfeyBallymore travelled to Confey on a bright Sunday evening.The match was played in dry conditions and Ballymore had the aid of a strongwind in the first half. Confey scored the first two points before Ballymore got their first score of the game. The first half ended with Ballymore 2 points in front.With the aid of the wind Confey started the second half well and soon were onlevel terms. Confey soon strected their lead to 3 points. Ballymore rallied but couldonly cut the difference to two points. The game ended with Confey winnning on ascore line of 12 -10.Ballymore V KillBallymore played Kill on Thursday the 5th of June. Kill got the openingtwo scores from frees, both converted by their full forward Tony Spain. Ballymorewere finding it hard to settle however Tommy Archibold scored their first pointfrom a very tight angle. Chris Dowling added to this a few minutes later. Kill continued to dominate and were soon 3 points in front.Ballymore ended the half with two excellent goal opportunities. Firstly HughKeogh picked up a breaking ball and raced towards the Kill goal. His shot was wellsaved by the goalkeeper. In the final few minutes of the first half Archibold wasfouled in the large rectangle. He took the subsequent penalty but his shot was saved.Ballymore trailed at half time on a scored line of 0-7 to 0-3.Ballymore started the second half brightly with 2 points from Archibold. After narrowing Kills led by 2 points Shane Kavanagh fisted a the ball to the back of thenet. Kill responded and levelled the scores. Garlath Gilroy then setup Chris Dowling, whofinished the ball to the corner of the Kill net. For the final 5 minutes Kill tried to score the 2 points that would levelthe game. However Ballymore defended bravely to win the game. Best for Ballymore were Gerry Fennell, Kevin Murphy,Pat Browne, Shane Kavanagh and Tommy Archibold.Ballymore V GrangeGrange travelled to Ballymore on Sunday night the 8th June. The visitors started well and raced into a 4 pointlead before Tommy Archibold opened the scoring for Ballymore with a fine point. This was folllowed by a goal from Archibold after a pass from James Kavanagh. Both teams had a man sent off after an off the ball incident.Balllymore ended thehalf with a 1 point lead after Chris Dowling struck fortheir second goal. James Kavanagh scored the first 2 points of the second half, both where free kicks. Grange then had another man sent to the line. Both teams lost their shape for the following few minutes and great scoring opportunites where missed for both teams. Ballymore finished thegame with pointsfrom Kavanagh and William O Donoghue while Grange had athird man dismissed. The scorelinewas 2-08 to 1-07, a victory for the Ballymore men.The Intermediate 'B' team had a number of good performances. After a narrow loss over St. Kevins they responded by beating Sarsfields. The next game was anarrow loss to Kilcullen.The Intermediate 'B' team then played Castledermot in Ballymore in their last league game. With the aid of a strong breeze and a Gerry Fennell goal Ballymorewere leading at half time. However they did miss a number of good chancesto extend the lead.In the second half Castledermot used the wind well and started to narrowthe gap on the score board. Ballymore rallied but could not get the scoresin the second half. Castledermot ended the game winning by 2 points.Best for Ballymore where Ollie O'Neill, Gerry Fennell and Dean Fisher.Senior training is every Tuesday and Thursday night in the pitch at 7.30. All are welcome.