RESIDENTIAL AREA LITTER LEAGUE
Judging started last week. Some areas could improve their ratings by tackling weeds or by encouraging repainting of some damaged paintwork on a few roadside walls.

IRISH AT YOUR PREMISES
As mentioned last week, we are encouraging property owners to paint and freshen up their premises. This week we highlight the importance of including some visible Irish on properties, for example by placing the word 'Fáilte' at your premises. Visibility of Irish gains valuable marks in the judging in National Tidy Towns Competition. A few premises already have some Irish and we particularly like the use of Irish at the Market Bar. Most Council signs and place name signs are bilingual. For those of you interested, Longford Tidy Towns in Irish is 'Bailte Slachtmhara an Longfoirt'.

MILL WHEEL
The mill wheel on the Camlin at Fee Court (at rear of Church Street) has almost been fully restored. We congratulate Longford Town Council, Michael Fenelon and Eamon Glennon on this work. Indeed, we nominated the improvements by the Town Council in this area, for an award in our Tidy Towns application last month.

WILDLIFE AT MALL AND CANAL
A survey of birds, plants, fish, mammals etc was recently carried out at the Mall by Eoin Kelleher (Longford Town Council). Eoin spotted an otter (alive!) in the water, confirming again the quality of the water there. Richard Collins was heard to mention the existence of otters in the Camlin on "Mooney goes Wild' last week. A heron, kingfisher and numerous mallard ducks were also spotted. Interesting plants species included Forget Me Knot, Reeds, Yellow Water Lily, Yellow Flag, Meadow-sweet, Honeysuckle and Herb Robert.

Longford's wildlife ranger, Sue Moles, is carrying out regular habitat surveys at the Canal. As we have stated before, the Mall and the Canal are fantastic facilities for the people of Longford. Great credit is due to the many people who look after these areas. We nominated both areas for awards in our Tidy Towns application.

BIRDS
Bird Watch Ireland recently saw a dipper bird in Longford, a rare sight in Ireland, never mind in Longford.

FEEDBACK
We would like to hear your comments on these notes, on tidy towns in general and on our website www.longfordtidytowns.com. Please write to our secretary P Grealy, Knockahaw, Dublin Road, Longford, or send an e-mail to info@longfordtidytowns.com, or send a text to 086 8205131.