Monasterevin was described as: “A handsome town with an important heritage in its built environment.” However, it was noted that many of the stone buildings of Monasterevin are vacant and have been for some years now, which has a visual impact on the town. The terraces of Georgian buildings along the Portarlington road were admired; and two buildings of particular merit were Gahans Tavern and The Manly Hopkins. However, there are still too many dated plastic signs in Monasterevin and the Luigi’s sign “is out of scale with its build-ing”. The report also said: “Both the crazy paving and the beer sign on the Nag’s Head Inn are dated and unattractive.”

Monasterevin’s stands of mature trees at several locations around the town and the Yew trees in the Church of Ireland grounds on the Portarlington Road were especially admired by the judges.The town’s beautiful Riverside Park was considered for the Waterside Award, and it was commended as an important amenity for the local community, along with the River Walk and the Grand Canal Walk. The bird feeder initiatives were described as excellent. As regards litter, there was a light scattering of litter throughout the town and on approach roads on the day of adjudication, but the Tidy Town’s committee’s moves to establish a litter patrol should strengthen litter control in the future. The town was congratulated on the plan to minimise waste production by composting organic waste to be collected and stored in private areas. However, there were some negative points to be made about the tidiness of the town, particularly the many commercial yards with open storage and poor roadside boundaries, and the vacant/derelict petrol station was described as ‘looking poor’.

The entrance to the town from the Athy Road: “Is significantly enhanced in visual terms by new residential developments and is a wonderful introduction to the town.” The large green open space with mature trees was particularly admired.

For Monasterevin, the Tidy Towns judges said the most important project to be undertaken in the near future relates to the presentation of street furniture, most of which needed to be cleaned, painted or repaired. They also said the entrance to Ballykelly sports grounds would benefit from resurfacing. The plan to erect bilingual street signs and name places with heritage style cast iron was described as ‘laudable’.

The weigh bridge at the canal is another interesting feature in need of attention and hopefully you will achieve your target of refurbishing this by 2009.

In all, the judges decided that; “On first acquaintance Monasterevin doesn’t appear to have much to offer the travelling public or indeed the local community. It is only when one leaves the side streets and sees your rich architectural and other heritage together with your Riverside Park that this disappointing first impression is corrected.”

For the record Monasterevin received 190 points out of a possible 400 the second lowest in County Kildare.