Newtown Tidy Towns and the Newtown community were delighted to host a lovely, relaxed and informative visit of the Mayor of County Cork, Councillor Gillian Coughlan on Monday afternoon. At the Schoolhouse Cross the Mayor was welcomed by Councillor Ian Doyle and an up to date account of the various projects was shared by members The Tidy Towns who acknowledged the support of Cork Co Council, Ballyhoura Development and Fás. The Centenary Garden commerating the 1916 Rising, wildflower area, heritage orchard and pollinator friendly plantings were of great interest to the Mayor who made the connection between the biodiversity approach of Tidy Towns and the ethos of Pádraig Pearse’s  school St. Endas. She appreciated the plantings on the approach road and was very impressed by the general appearance of the village as we did a walkabout – stopping on her way to talk to locals, children and teachers in our Primary School. We had an informative talk from Chris Morrissey on the history of the Well area at O’Mahony’s cottage. The Mayor was full of enthusiasm and interest in the work of the Tidy Towns group and was particularly impressed by the amount of help available to the core group from the wider community who give so readily of their expertise and talent when called upon to do so, be it strimming, a tractor and driver or just heavy lifting we have a meitheal at the ready. It was a wonderful visit. Our thanks to Charleville Gardaí who ensured our safety at The Schoolhouse Cross. After our walkabout refreshments were served in the Community Hall where a bouquet of flowers,a copy of our five year plan and biodiversity survey was presented to the Mayor. We appreciated her time, her warmth and her commitment to Tidy Towns.