International judges find 'hidden gems' in Laois town

Abbeyleix was firmly in the spotlight when the Canada based Communities in Bloom judges descended on the town last week.

Abbeyleix Tidy Towns is competing in the 31st Edition of Communities in Bloom in the International Challenge Small category, along with the Village of Pugwash, Nova Scotia Canada and the Town of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia Canada.

The Communities in Bloom judges, Alain Cappelle from Nieuwpoort, Belgium and Anthony O’Neill from North Saanich, British Columbia Canada, spent three days evaluating Abbeyleix on June 26, 27 and 28. 

The judges had started their worldwide tour judging cities in Slovenia and Italy earlier in the week before arriving to a warm welcome and a busy agenda of tours in Abbeyleix.

The Laois town was proposed as Ireland's entry in the international competition by the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht.

At a press conference on Friday, June 27, Alain Cappelle told the Leinster Express / Laois Live that “It’s not about comparing” to other towns and cities.

“It’s about meeting people, it’s about community pride. You don’t compare different cities with each other. You can’t compare a touristic site in Rome or the south of France with a town in Ireland.

"All of the volunteers today show plans and foresight for the future,” he said. He said that the international category includes the Abbeyleix and the two other European locations.

“We found a lot of hidden gems in Abbeyleix,” Mr Cappelle said.

“We just came from the bog. For me the bog does stand out. I’m from a part of Canada where that’s what we live around all the time. They haven’t been exploited,” Mr O’Neill said.

He added “who could not be impressed by crawling into the centre of a 700 year old tree. You start off being impressed right from the beginning.Then we walked the bog. The whole day has been full of surprises, it’s impressive,” Mr O’Neill said.

“We’ve seen so much today, the community garden, everything was stand-out. If we must highlight anything, it’s the volunteers. We saw 300 or 400 people,” Mr Cappelle said.

Robbie Quinn, chair of Abbeyleix Tidy Towns, also spoke.

“As an Abbeyleix native, it was emotional, just to be at the community gardens today, then to go to the church to hear the choir singing, it’s just phenomenal support from everybody. Laois County Council drove the whole thing from the beginning. We got the phone call on December 2, I’d like to thank Helen and Niamh here today from the Department who put us through to represent the country. An emotional day for us all as volunteers.

“It’s a priceless effort that people have put in. From day one, we didn’t even have to ask. It’s not even about the awards, it’s about civic pride, living in a town you can be proud of. We have a fabulous canvas given to us by the de Vescis, we’re just guardians. It’s good for the whole county,” Mr Quinn said.

The Abbeyleix community will be rated from 1 to 5 Blooms, based on the scoring obtained. The awards also include Bronze, Silver or Gold levels in a 5-Bloom rating.

The National and International results will be announced in Stratford, Ontario Canada from October 16 to 19, 2025, during the National Symposium and Awards Ceremonies. The non-profit volunteer run Bloom competition began 31 years ago for Canada, later expanding worldwide.

“It’s all about networking,” Mr Cappelle said.

Robbie Quinn, Abbeyleix Tidy Towns, Niamh Gorman, manager of the Tidy Town Unit in the Department of Rural & Community Development, Simon Walton, Director in Laois County Council and Helen Murray also from the Government department who nominated Abbeyleix for the international award.

He noted that Abbeyleix Tidy Towns have been on the go for 66 years as "unbelievable". 

“It’s about making communities as liveable as possible. We have six criteria; community appearance, the tidiness, the beauty, the volunteers. Then environmental sustainability, natural and cultural heritage, tree management is very important. The power of trees and seeing if there are plans and policies in place. Landscape sustainability, mitigating challenges communities may have around fire or flooding. Then the planting and florals,” Mr O’Neill said.

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Director of Services Simon Walton represented Laois County Council CEO at the conference.

“Our job is to support the local community, in the same way we have been doing and that will continue. But it’s great to see the atmosphere, the way the local community have come together in the lead-in to this. It’s inspiring actually,” he said.

See more on Communities in Bloom here.