Our Initiatives
SuperValu Tidy Towns Competition
The national SuperValu TidyTowns competitions is an annual contest organised by the Department of Rural and Community Development. Participating areas are rated on all aspects of their local environment and prizes are awarded to the best under many different categories. The overall winner is "Ireland's Tidiest Town", which is announced at a national ceremony in September each year.
​
Our volunteers manage the town's application for the competition each year where our marks have increased in recent years from 304 in 2019 to 315 in 2022.
Biodiversity Action Plan
The Biodiversity Action Plan for Ballyhaunis examines the biodiversity in the town and its potential for improvement. Grant funding was obtained from The Community Foundation for an ecologist to conduct fieldwork and research in 2022. We are fortunate to have the Friary Grounds and the Dalgan River as highlights of our town's biodiversity. With this document we are able to implement important steps to protect and preserve our ecology.
Small actions to care for our biodiversity
Citizen Science
The Dalgan river monitoring initiative was launched on the 21st of April 2023 in collaboration with The Local Authorities Water Programme.
The Ballyhaunis Citizen Science programme, the first in County Mayo, wishes to engage communities and raise awareness in schools. Freshwater monitoring follows a simple “traffic light system” of good and bad indicator species, i.e. easily identifiable insects indicating the health of the aquatic environment.
The sampling is carried out at specific sites each season, and the data is entered in the National Biodiversity Database, to inform water quality trends and initiatives to improve it. We welcome volunteers to help us in our biodiversity actions.
Get to know us
The Ballyhaunis Tidy Towns group was founded in 2001. Our volunteers actively participate in environmental awareness initiatives and campaigns organised by Mayo County Council and other bodies, as well as embark on projects to highlight the rich biodiversity and heritage of the town and surrounding hinterland, such as:
​
-
Townland Signage Scheme where limestone signs were erected identifying the original townland names in Irish and English.
-
Installing Wildlife Information panels along the riverside walk in the Friary Grounds.
-
Creating the 1916 Memorial Garden to commemorate the centenary of the 1916 Rising.
-
Restoring the Old Town Well, which was the only source of fresh water for local residents for centuries until the inauguration of the public supply in 1933, to its former glory.
​
We work closely with local organisations including the Community Council, the Abbey Partnership/Trust, Ballyhaunis Chamber and Annagh Magazine Society on variety of activities for the benefit of the town and its residents.