Derry takes Gold in Britain in Bloom

Londonderry were awarded a Gold Award in their category at the UK wide event hosted by BBC broadcaster Bob Flowerdew in Saturday’s ceremony, in which a number of Ulster town’s including Scarva, Ahoghill, Bangor and Hillsborough were also celebrating as the region picked up five awards in total.

Mayor Martin Reilly said he was delighted the city gained further recognition with this award.

“This award is acknowledgement of the hard work of Derry City Council’s Ground Maintenance and Street Cleansing Sections who work extremely hard year round to provide the eye catching, vibrant horticultural displays which have created a colourful, attractive and clean streetscape around the City, and is particularly significant this year as we celebrate our year as City of Culture. Formally recognising how fantastic our city looks, this Gold Award further signifies the widespread consensus from both our citizens and visitors that the Pride in our City Initiative is clearly working. After many years of competing at a national level, it is momentous that 2013 is the year this is formally recognised and the Gold Award is well deserved.”

Picking up the award for the city was Derry City Council’s Ground Maintenance Manager, Danny McCartney and Sean Carr, Chair of Environmental Services.

“We are still overwhelmed with the news and delighted to receive this recognition that confirms the regeneration of the city has been acknowledged with this level of a national award” said Danny McCartney after the event. “It was obvious in August when we hosted the visiting Britain in Bloom judges in the city that they were impressed with the placement and design of the displays. Commented during the ceremony the judges made reference to the city as one of the Best Tourist Destinations in the world this year, and confirmed that we deserved this accolade. I want to thank my dedicated team at Derry City Council and all those who participated on the judging day whose help and support in the overall Pride in Our City campaign each year has led to this Gold Award.