I am delighted to be notified that the national awards for the Tidy Towns have just been announced and there is plenty of good news for the towns and villages in the constituency.

Following on from the Entente Florale Success, Straffan finished first, with Naas second and Rathangan third in Kildare while there were gold medals for Straffan, Naas and Maynooth, with Leilxip, Celbridge, Kill, Rathangan and Newbridge winning silver medals, and bronze medals for Clane and Ballymore Eustace.