Cuireann an moltóir seo fáilte roimh Deilginis chuig Comórtas na mBailte Slachtmhara SuperValu 2018 agus chuig Ceiliúradh 60 Bliain an Chomórtais. We note that over your long history in the competition you have been working hard as a group looking after your local environment and for the benefit of your community. The laminated village plans were most helpful to this adjudicator as they clearly marked out locations where particular work had been carried out over the past year. Thank you for that. Your submission this year was considerable shorter than previous submissions and this has made the judging process much easier for the adjudicator. It was clearly laid out with the correct information generally in the correct category (though some more work is required here to prevent duplication) and nicely illustrated. The cover was most eye-catching and really set the tone for the visit. Your committee numbers have grown this year with one extra member. Your pool of volunteers also seems to have expanded which much be a great help in addressing your many planned activates. You liaise with 70 bodies no less and gain a great deal of support for your work. Well done in this. You communicate very effectively with your community through your Facebook pages and face to face with your numerous major public meeting. It is great to see that you have a junior tidy towns group and well done to the staff and pupils of Loreto and Harold Boys Schools for the time and effort that must go in to keeping this running. The images included in the application of your various community activities really gave a flavour of the events you initiate and support over the full year of the competition.   We are glad to hear that your 32 year involvement in the competition has increased your residents pride in their special local place and urban village of Dalkey.

  The adjudicator enjoyed a very pleasant stroll around your community on a sunny summer’s day. The main street was looking very impressive with so many thriving local shops and restaurant buzzing with customers. The bright green frontage of the local book shop caught the eye as did the vibrant pink of Daisie Store. We loved the variety of planters to enliven the space at the Corner Note. And the informative display in the window of the traditional pharmacy window at Dalkey Pharmacy was very interesting. As you say the issues of vacant premises is becoming of lesser concern as the economy thrives. Your Dalkey Buildings Spotlight project with its basic scoring system
brings a focus on frequently overlooked elements of building façade which, if left untended, can really bring a streetscape down. Weed growth to chimneys, loose cables and redundant signs, a problem in many high streets, was much less of an issue here thanks to your works. A great project for you and nicely illustrated. The quality of paving in the town is a bit of an issue. Poor footpath repairs in many areas and lack of continuity of streetscape materials create a certain discordant note. Luckily you still have generous lengths of local stone kerbs which is good to see. However in areas of recent paving works , as at the junction of Castle Street and Dalkey Avenue , cheap poured concrete paths are a let-down compared to the good quality paving used around the train station and castle. Ensure any future works by the Local Authority or private developers on public paths uses a good quality of streetscape materials, even as a trim, to ensure continuity of materials. The combination of signage and commissioned bronze pavement icons were very effective to promote the Seven Castles project and well done in all your effort to get this project off the ground, no pun intended! Bullock harbour was very busy on the day of the visit with water sports activities. The distinctive blue and white striped light and crane base is a focal point here in this lovely harbour setting. Well done in organising 200 birthday celebrations for the space. We hope to see improvements in the tram yard for next year.

 We are considering Dillon’s Park in this category for judging purposes. This was a lovely space and as you say so close to the main street but no doubt often overlooked by visitors. The park was well used by dog walkers on the day of the visit with some dog dirt present unfortunately. The planted bed at the entrance is very appropriate but really the view of Dalkey Island is its star turn. A fabulous viewing spot. The well was admired with the work here weathering well and looks as if it was always thus. The clearance of scrub had had a big impact. Some new sycamore seedlings were establishing to the large rock outcrop by the well and should be removed. New tree planting here was also noted. The lovely path side space at Ormeau Drive was fill of color and the birch trees here are establishing well with your Dalkey Tidy Towns sign noted. The beds to the traffic island also added color to his hardscape sace. The garden area at the grotto at the rear of the church was also visited and admired for the level of maintence shown. The planter to the entrance of the car park is looking a little tired and could do with a new coat of varnish. The effort to crate appropriate planted displays at the gateways is also commended with the large green tubs flanking the raised stone Dalkey sign admired at Ulverton road. There was some weed growth to the Bulloch harbor name stone. The cart planter at the castle was bright and colorful although the tree at the sign here is struggling and should be removed if it is not thriving.

As a group you are well aware of the rich environment which you live in and enjoy. There was some weed growth to the Bulloch harbor name stone which may be one of your zero pesticide trail locations. Good luck with coming up with the correct formula for this. Your attendance at relevant workshops and organization of walks to highlight the issue is admired and encouraged. We note you are working towards increasing the use of pollinator friendly plants in your green spaces. In a residential urban village such as Dalkey remember the value of your garden areas for pollinators. Consult the ALL Ireland Pollinator plan section for Garden actions to help pollinators. Advice for garden sizes ranging from window boxes to large gardens can be found and spread though the community through your facebook page. Every garden, no matter its size, can be a haven for hungry pollinators.

    You have included a number of practical projects in this category so keep up your endeavours here. The number of workshops you attend, surveys undertaken and the way you spread information on this topic to the community is admired. Your focus on food packaging and waste is good to see and seems to be a success for you with your focus on coffee cups and plastic bags. Refill.ie is another initiative you could let your shops be aware of. It is a voluntary environmental project leading the way to make Ireland a tap water refill country and we see that the Italian Hairdresser has signed up for this, well done.. Ask pubs to move from plastic straws to paper straws as part of you Dalkey SUP grousp work? A simple move that can have a big impact on the amount of plastic that ends up in our oceans and an issue particularly relevant to our coastal towns

    Your main street was very neat and free from recent litter on adjudication day. There was no graffiti so well done in your particular efforts at addressing this issue. Litter patrol take up much of your time and we wish to thank all those who give of their time to take part. Your park patrol in Dillons Park must be busy, some recent drink bottles and cans were noted to the undergrowth here but we are sure they would have been picked up on the next pass through the park. Some windblown litter was noted to the low wall at the church car park near the entrance to the church a, a bit of a litter wind trap. The work done on the Island shows your groups’ scope spread offshore as with the number of visitors on the island as seen on the day of the visit we can see how littering from day-trippers may be an issue. Well done in all your effort in this category and keep up the good work. The metal seats at the lookout at Collimore Harbour are rusting badly and staining the lovely paving here. They should be replaced.

    Well done to all your residents on the hard work they carry out over the year. With 25 housing estates and over 70 road representative the spread of your influence is wide. We hope the efforts at engaging with residents through your Dalkey Household Questionnaire yields informative results. The community garden completion is a great way to highlight the efforts of residents and reward and recognise the work that goes into maintaining gardens especially when they are visible to the public and form part of the streetscape. We note that a number of new housing areas are being developed which will add new residents to the village. We hope you can add to your pool of volunteers with these new residents. Joining tidy towns is a great way to encourage newcomers to take an active role in the upkeep and environment of their town and helps them create new linkages and friendships through volunteering in Dalkey.

    Approaches to the village are well maintained and the name signs help delineate your areas from nearby Sandycove and Glenagearuy and so help create a distinct Dalkey Village environs. A dead tree to the open space at Sorrento Drive should be removed and replaced. The upkeep and quality of the materials used at the railway station was admired. We note work is planned here and we hope elements like historic kerbs etc. if disturbed here are reinstated. Some of your street signs are looking a little tired and could be reviewed. The Colimore Road green and white sign needed a clean. The brown and white Colimore harbour pole needs it black and white stripes refreshed.

    This was the adjudicators first visit to Dalkey in a long time and we were most impressed by the vibrant atmosphere of your core areas and the standard of care in your open spaces. Well done to all involved in this year’s application and thank you for your hard work and commitment. We wish you all the best for all your planned work in 2019.

       It was a pleasure to undertake the 2nd adjudication of Dalkey and its surrounds and to recognize the efforts of the tidy town committee and the greater community in sustaining the outstanding standard that you have achieved in the competition over the years. On the morning in question a dedicated group of volunteers in their customized Tidy Towns High Viz Bibs were sweeping and cleaning leaves and residue form paths and kerbsides on Ulverton Road It was necessary to spend a fair portion of time just engaging in a leisurely walk to embrace the ambience of Dalkey and this can be quite a task if one is on shanks mare because of the part hilly terrain The Committee deserves great credit in ensuring that basic works under each of the competition categories are completed and maintained on an ongoing basis to a very high standard.
    This is the platform for your continuous high rating in the competition. I would concur with the first adjudicator “less is more” comment it is impossible to make reference to every element of what was contained in your comprehensive entry in an 3 page report of 8 categories.
Feel assured that the adjudication was done in a fair and objective manner in line with the guidelines of the competition. Its best to make comment on the few negatives observed before progressing with the rest of this short report. Too much weed growth and some litter wrappers, plastic bottle) was noted on the narrow Leslie Avenue.  Weed growth was also noted at road side on Soreento Road, Ardevveein / Knocnacree Rd Junction and up part of Nerano Road and up Vico Road overlooking the Bay.
   Your overall developmental approach is very detailed and forward thinking but most importantly the set goals are very achievable.
The Committee is most proactive and progressive in developing new ideas as well as coordinating the resources necessary to keep everything working in organized fashion. The many links with agencies, local authority and local businesses and organizations have served you well The adjudication map was very useful as it allowed the adjudciator to navigate an area that was somewhat unfair to him.
    Some very historical buildings were observed especially in the core of the town, notably the old Public Library now part of Supervalu Dalkey and Dalkey Dispensary on Castle Street now a restaurant and wine bar. It is good to see these old premises serving a different clientele in a different era. A few shop fronts appealed to the adjudicator for no other reason than they looked good and in keeping with the
surroundings. The Corner Note Café for its nice sign writing on a premises that is in a very central location in the core of the town.
One presumed that the bins in front were being collected later in the day. Supervalu has very well maintained premises with signage in keeping with the surroundings. De Villes and The EBS also deserve mention for the standard of presentation. The Churches and indeed schools of different denominations visited were all presented to a very high standard. Road surfaces and footpaths were in good condition and the information notice board at St Patrick’s Avenue Junction was what it should be informative and of good design. Public and private planting arrangements were of the highest order and have been more than adequately commented upon in the 1st adjudication.     
    The myriad of colorful hanging baskets noted on the vast majority of business premises were something to behold. Sorento and Dillons Park referred to in the entry were visited and the work undertaken here noted. Well done the members of both Cuala GAA and Dalkey United FC for the manner in which their adjacent grounds are presented. Both are successful clubs serving a large population and as an the Cuala flag was flying majestically on the pier down at the relaxing Bulloch Harbour. There are a myriad of wildlife and marine habitats in your immediate area and the content on wildlife in your website reflects the work that you doing in this category. The 1st adjudication covers this category in great detail as it does Sustainability –Doing more with less. What you have listed is in keeping with the main objectives of the category and further recommendations have been given by the 1st adjudicator. Tidiness and Litter Control, with the exception of what was commented upon earlier, was good. One notes your anti graffiti stance but some budding Banksy was able to get down under the bridge at I think Vico Rock and treat us to his or hers masterpiece. As the Tayto ad once said “There’s always one” Some very fine private residences to be seen on all the aforementioned roads but for this adjudicator the terraces of the inner town like St Patrick’s Avenue were very appealing. Town lanes and side entrances were kept very well.