Volunteers clean up after Tuam parade

A TEAM of volunteers ensured Tuam's streets were cleaned up almost immediately after the St Patrick's Day Parade on Saturday. The first time initiative was deemed to be a success and was the result of discussions between the Chamber of Commerce, the Tidy Towns committee and the parade sponsors, St Jarlath's Credit Union. Chamber President Ronan Glynn said there was a good response to their appeal for people to help out with a post parade clean up. [private] 'We met with the Tidy Towns committee to discuss how we could minimise litter during and after the event. 'There were about 15 volunteers who gave about ten minutes of their time and overall it was very successful. The streets were pretty clean afterwards and by placing extra litter bags around along the route during the event also reduced litter being thrown on the streets,' explained Ronan. A 'silly string' spree initiated by a number of young people who sprayed the string at each other and all over the town's streets, did make the clean-up job a lot tougher. The chamber president said that while the teens' actions were regrettable he said it was a very difficult thing to address. 'There was a lot of the spray string stuck to the pavements and some of it is still there. I'm sure those involved thought it was great fun but it did leave a mess,' remarked Ronan. He said while the business community can encourage everyone to be more litter conscious, it is hard to stop or prevent instances such as silly string being sprayed around the town, without an outright ban on the cans, which he added would probably be impossible. 'Overall we were very happy with the parade and the feedback has been positive. We will be reviewing the event and discussing how improvements can be made for next year. The main thing is to encourage more people to get involved and for the town to take ownership of the event,' he added. [/private]