European Entente Floral Competition
The unpredictable weather of recent months took a welcome turn for the better on Saturday 13th July as the sun shone throughout the day on the village of Ballinahown for the visit of the European Entente Floral judges. Ballinahown Village represented Ireland in the villages section of the competition as did Carlow town on the lager towns section. The village looked resplendent thanks to the trojan work carried out by the local Development Committee and volunteers who worked tirelessly with assistance from Westmeath County Council over recent months. Many people visited the village to shop in the pop up market located in the car park and dropped into the community hall to view a beautiful array of old photographs on display dating back to the early part of the last century. The judges were introduced to the village via a power point presentation detailing the work undertaken by the committee over the last number of years. This was followed by a tour of the village outlining the various projects undertaken in the village over the last thirty years. These included the poly-tunnel where vegetables and various plants were planted by pupils from the national school, the sports park, astro turf, bug hotel, fairy walks through the woods, the nature pond, children’s playground, the amphitheatre where the judges were treated to live traditional music and Irish dancing, the playground and St Colmcille’s Church where the judges were shown a chalice dating from the 1600’s.
Later that evening, over dinner in the community hall, the committee were commended by the judges on the magnificent work carried out in the village. Result will be announced in early September. Catering for lunch earlier in the day and dinner that evening was provided by Wild Plates Catering, Birr. All in all it was a great day for the village that will long be remembered in the community.