The beautiful Palace Fields park in Tuam town has received a Green Flag environmental award for the first time this week.
The Green Flag Awards are judged every year by a peer jury of green space experts, who volunteer their time to visit applicant sites and assess them against eight strict criteria, including horticultural standards, cleanliness, sustainability, and community involvement.
In Ireland, the international awards are managed by An Taisce, which chose 103 sites for the prize this year, comprising 84 formal public Green Flag Park sites, along with 19 volunteer run Green Community Sites.
Cathaoirleach of Galway County Council, Councillor Peter Keaveney welcomed this award, saying “Our public spaces are key to improving the quality of life for people living in Co. Galway. They also serve to make our communities more attractive to visitors, and in so doing help boost tourism.”
“Providing a space where people can safely enjoy the outdoors has been very important this year and I want to congratulate everyone in Galway County Council and Tuam Tidy Towns on this prestigious award for the Palace Grounds.”
This year, the environmental award was given to more than 2,300 different sites around the world in 16 different countries, though the bulk by far are located in the UK.
This year participating countries, alongside the Republic of Ireland, included Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States of America.
