Ballina has become the first town in Connacht and only the fifth in the country to be awarded a coveted Purple Flag for its vibrant night life.
The Purple Flag is an award programme celebrating town and city centres, which rate highly in areas such as safety, cleanliness, vitality and culture, as an evening and night time destination.
Ballina follows in the footsteps of Dublin’s ‘creative quarter’, Bray, Ennis, and Killarney, in achieving the Purple Flag status.
President of Ballina Chamber of Commerce, Kevin Connolly, described the award as “an incredible achievement”.
“I would like to pay tribute to and thank all concerned for their amazing work,” he said.
Paul Regan, chairperson of the special Purple Flag committee set up to secure the award for Ballina, said the project was made possible by the support and cooperation of so many different groups including local hoteliers, publicans, taxi drivers, business people, Ballina Municipal District Council, the local tidy towns committee, Ballina Chamber of Commerce, Ballina Fire Brigade, Moy Valley Resources IRD, Garda representatives, and the HSE.
“This is an exciting achievement for Ballina and a wonderful acknowledgement of the work of all involved,” he added.
The Purple Flag committee worked for six months to prepare the submission for the award.
The submission was compiled and coordinated by Moy Valley Resources IRD.
