Aughrim in Co Wicklow has won this year's Tidy Towns competition after beating three other finalists for the grand prize of €415,000.
The Wicklow town also won the prize for tidiest small town in Ireland and was regional winner for the Midlands and East category.
Minister for the Environment John Gormley presented the award today at a reception in Dublin Castle's St Patrick's Hall. Mr Gormley said the competition served as "well-deserved recognition of the hard work and effort expended by ordinary people contributing to their communities".
He said his department would seek the increased support of local authorities for the Tidy Towns committees in their areas and congratulated the scheme on its attempts to address "youth littering", with the addition this year of the anti-gum litter award, which was won by Carlow town.
Other new awards this year included the Notice Nature award, won by Mulranny in Co Mayo and the Bilingual award won by Westport, Co Mayo.
"Government fully appreciates the importance of active citizenship such as participation in Tidy Towns and is fully committed to practical steps to encourage more people to become involved in the life of their communities," the Minister said.
"One of our key objectives is to strengthen the relationship between central and local government, community and voluntary organisations . . . in particular I will be encouraging local authorities to engage more actively in support of the Tidy Towns movement," he added.
Competition sponsor Supervalu announced a further five years of sponsorship to 2011. Managing director Donal Horgan said the competition, now in its 49th year, represented a celebration of community spirit, team work and an awareness of the natural environment.
A list of full results can be found at: http://www.tidytowns.ie/Results%20Book%202007.pdf