Rural landscape contest launched

A major landscaping initiative to improve the countryside in the run-up to the millennium was announced yesterday by the Minister…

A major landscaping initiative to improve the countryside in the run-up to the millennium was announced yesterday by the Minister for the Environment, Mr Dempsey.

Cash prizes totalling £50,000 will be on offer in different categories of the IFA's National Farm Landscape Initiative, in which thousands of farmers and other rural dwellers are being encouraged to participate.

The IFA president, Mr Tom Parlon, said he was confident that the ESB-sponsored initiative would leave an important legacy for the rural, urban and tourist communities to enjoy into the new millennium.

Examples of qualifying work include: tree-planting to camouflage a building, planting an avenue, painting or renovating farm building exteriors and adding new features to farm landscapes. There is also a category for non-farming rural dwellers.

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The project is being run in conjunction with the Farmers' Journal.