BROUGHSHANE IN COUNTY Antrim has been named the overall winner of Ireland’s Best Kept Town competition.

Broughshane also won the Best Kept Small Town category.

Terryglass, County Tipperary, won the Best Kept Village category; Armagh won the Best Kept Large Town category and Ballincollig, Co Cork, won the Best Kept Large Urban Centre category.

The results were announced today at an awards ceremony in Riddel Hall, Belfast.

Here’s the full list of 2016′s entrants:

Village

• Terryglass, Co Tipperary
• Dromod, Co Leitrim
• Scarva, Co Armagh

Small Town

• Belmullet, Co Mayo
• Kill, Co Kildare
• Broughshane, Co Antrim
• Moira, Co Down

Large Town

• Roscommon, Co Roscommon
• Cavan, Co Cavan
• Armagh, Co Armagh

Large Urban Centre

• Ballincollig, Co Cork
• Swords, Co Dublin
• Omagh, Co Tyrone
• Derry, Co Derry

Michael Ring, Minister of State for Regional Economic Development, paid tribute to each of the category winners and nominees, stating:

After 21 years, this all-Ireland competition continues to be a strong recognition of the great pride people have in their own communities, and how local volunteers take ownership of their surroundings and work to improve them, both for now and into the future.

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Northern Ireland Amenity Council initiated Ireland’s Best Kept Towns competition in 1995 to help raise the profile of the republic’s Tidy Towns competition and the north’s Best Kept competitions.

All entrants were marked on a number of factors including cleanliness, the outward appearance of buildings, the presentation of roads and public facilities, and the natural environment.

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