New arrivals have revitalised Mayo Tidy Towns group with volunteers from 30 nations lending a hand
Castlebar Tidy Towns has played an essential role in the community for over three decades. Founded 31 years ago from a meeting of the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce, the group has grown from simple litter picking to heading up large-scale projects that focus on sustainability and biodiversity.
Major initiatives such as the Lough Lannagh enhancement scheme, the Bee Kind Project, and the Biodiversity Enhancement Project have been taken on in recent years and helped Castlebar work toward a sustainable future.
The transformation of the group's capabilities has been driven in large part by the arrival of new volunteers from asylum seekers, refugees, and migrant communities living locally.
Ger Deere, the Chairperson of Tidy Towns and Leas-Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said the arrival of the extra volunteers has made a significant impact in the town.
“Tidy Towns is about a community and people working together, that has certainly worked here in Castlebar”, he told the Irish Independent, “In the last three years we’ve had a large influx of new residents coming to the town, a lot of them are living in Breaffy, just a few miles down the road, and we have two IPAS centres here in town.”
Only a few years ago, he explained, the group was small and limited in what it could achieve.
“In Castlebar Tidy Towns, up until about three years ago, we just had a handful of people volunteering in a very big town, and we were just litter picking really at that time. Since we have the influx of volunteers, we have been able to take on so many more projects,” he explained.
What began as a handful of volunteers has now become a diverse and dynamic group, with over 30 nationalities represented.
Joe Butler, a member of the committee of Castlebar Tidy Towns, explained how the group helps bring pride into the community: “It’s creating a further awareness and it’s making people think, motivating them to act within their own areas. That’s what we are trying to do.”
Cllr Deere highlighted the skills and experience new members bring, and urged other towns to involve new residents in community groups.
“There are all sorts of talents from all sorts of backgrounds, the majority that we have volunteering want to be part of the community, want a better life for their children and want to put something back into their community,” he said.
He told the story of one couple who volunteer with Tidy Towns.
“We have a lady who was an economist in the central bank in Eswatini, and her husband is an accountant. He painted these benches around the Mall just of his own free will. We supplied him with the paint, and he and another member of Tidy Towns transformed the Mall here over the course of two evenings.”
Even distance and transport challenges have not stopped volunteers. Many live in Breaffy, about four miles from Castlebar, where bus services are limited.
“After St Patrick's Day, there was no bus running, but around 30 members of Tidy Towns walked in from Breaffy in the lashing rain, and they helped clean up the mess that was left over. People need to see that,” explained Cllr Deere.
Tidy Towns is a nationwide community-driven competition organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development. In recent years, the competition has placed a lot of focus on promoting sustainability and biodiversity.
“At a national level Tidy Towns is probably one of the strongest individual voluntary organisations in the country, outside of sporting bodies,” explained Mr Butler, “Castlebar Tidy Towns has been regarded as a sustainable energy community. We developed an Energy Master Plan for the community about what more we should be doing and where we go from here.”
The contributions from new residents have been vital in allowing Castlebar to expand its projects and ambitions. For many of these newcomers, however, joining Tidy Towns is about more than volunteering, it is about safety, belonging, and starting again.
“When you get talking to the new members, we normally have a cup of tea after meeting on a Saturday, you learn that these people are coming from unbelievable circumstances, from war, persecution, some are economic migrants, naturally. We have heard some horrific stories about their journey here on boats and young kids with them,” said Cllr Deere.
Mr Butler added: “And some of the women are coming from persecution and young women escaping the prospect of being married at 12 years of age.”
Cllr Deere spoke of the resilience he has witnessed: “The stories are just frightening, to think of the resilience from them, and they want to make a better life here. Once they get their work permits, they are getting jobs, they move into healthcare, or tourism sometimes,
“We are lucky in Castlebar to have the ATU and the College of Further Education, and a lot of our volunteers are doing courses in palliative care, health care, and personal care. We are crying out for those in this country, and they are filling that void.”
“To have these people who want to contribute, we are so lucky to have them and long may it continue,” he added.
With the extra help, Castlebar Tidy Towns has flourished, taking on new projects that once would not have been possible. The next project is a mural celebrating Castlebar’s rich history.
The Mall in Castlebar is home to the establishment of the Land League under the leadership of James Daly and Michael Davitt. The famous opera singer Margaret Burke Sheridan was born in the town, as was the famous engineer and inventor Louis Brennen. Cllr Deere explained that Tidy Towns wishes to combine all of that history and honour it in the form of a mural in the town.
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