By Ken Duffy
2021 was a productive and successful year for Swords Tidy Towns, which in its self is remarkable considering our volunteers had to work through a pandemic to achieve this. Right from the start of the Covid 19 crisis our volunteers wished to continue on working as best they could, by working in pods they were able to achieve this. The crisis actually increased our membership. People who were stuck at home through no fault of their own found they had time on their hands and wanted to do something positive with that time by helping in their community. We have over forty members on our books at present and we are always looking for new members, Swords is a big place and it continues to grow. We linked up in 2021 with numerous Swords groups who wished to contribute by doing litter picking or planting around the town for us. These included the National Learning Network, Youthreach, McVery Trust, St Michaels House, others we have worked with are Prosper Fingal and Anew. Our Chairman sits on the board of directors of both the Fingal Leader Partnership and the Valley Project. We started and completed our Frontline Workers Commemorative Garden opposite the fire brigade station. We have planted flower beds and rockeries down River Mall and along the river towards the Old Schoolhouse. We completed a beautiful wild life mural funded by a grant from Fingal County Council on Brackenstown Rd at the lane entrance to the park. We linked up with the Swords Woodland Association and Fingal County Council on a project to plant 3000 trees. We agreed to take on 23 TY students from Fingal and Swords Community Colleges each Saturday for 20 weeks to help them achieve their Gaisca Medal Awards. Our Rock Garden on the Rathbeale Road a collaboration with Fingal County Council won another International Green Flag Award. We were finalists in this year’s Pakman National Awards, we won a Silver Medal in the National Tidy Towns Competition making that four in a row. A very good year.All of this, everything achieved, is down to the continuing hard work of our members, their love of their town and their ambition to make Swords the best it can be, roll on 2022.