THE Province’s best presented towns and villages were recognised for their floral displays yesterday when the winners of the annual Translink Ulster in Bloom competition were announced.
Londonderry has once again beaten long-term rival Belfast to top the Best City category, while Bangor (Large Town) and Coleraine (Town) were also major winners.
Carrying on the good work from last year, Ahoghill has again been acknowledged as number one in the Small Town category and Broughshane remains unbeatable in the Large Village section.
Glenarm (Village) and Scarva (Small Village) were also recognised for their floral presentations. This time around, last year’s best village Tobermore was a close joint-second place along with Crawfordsburn.
This was the 34th year of the competition and a wide range of prizes was presented to the winning councils, businesses and community groups involved at a ceremony in Belfast Castle.
Lisburn City Council received the NITB Crystal Award for embracing the tourist board’s ‘ni2012’ themes within Hillsborough’s Oyster Festival flower bed. Special awards for outstanding presentation were presented to The Duke of York bar in Belfast, The Watermargin Restaurant in Coleraine, The Old Inn at Crawfordsburn, Castlerock Caravan Park and Antrim Castle Walled Garden.
The Most Improved title went to Portrush.
Speaking at yesterday’s ceremony Angela Coffey, from NITHC/Translink, said: “We have seen a number of newcomers reach the top three placings and would like to congratulate all the winners and runners-up. We hope their impressive displays will encourage even more people to get involved in Ulster in Bloom next year.”