PHOTOS & VIDEO – TLC2 13,500 volunteers come out to love Limerick

TLC2 13,500 volunteers come out to love Limerick and to to take part in the biggest one-day clean-up ever staged in Ireland. JP McManus and Paul O’Connell pictured at Tait House, Southill with Young Munsters fans in TLC2 2016 – Picture: Sean Curtin FusionShooters.

TLC2 13,500 volunteers come out to love Limerick on Good Friday to take part in the biggest one-day clean-up ever staged in Ireland. This is the second year for the Team Limerick Clean-up initiative to be staged and last year’s event attracted over 10,000 volunteers. Sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund, Team Limerick Clean-up2, (TLC2) is fronted by Paul O’Connell and was launched at the O’Connell Monument in Limerick, where volunteers joined JP and Paul as they raised the starter flag to launch the countywide event.

Mr. McManus launched the community endeavour with rugby legend Paul O’Connell, TLC2 volunteers and the Boherbuoy Brass Band at the O’Connell monument in the city before heading to Moyross.

As they made their way there, a light aircraft flew across the sky over the city with a banner reading, “Thank you to all TLC volunteers.”

Team Limerick Clean-up2 (TLC2) brought a diverse range of volunteers together including families, community groups, schools, residents’ associations, parishes, businesses and sports clubs from all over the county to clean-up their local area in a bid to make Limerick the tidiest and cleanest city in the country. It is estimated that 50,000 bags of litter will have been collected on the day by the event partner, Mr Binman.

This year, tea/coffee gatherings for volunteers, neighbours and friends were hosted at over 100 locations throughout the county. These took place in people’s homes, community & sports centres and schools where over 5,000 people attended to celebrate their clean-ups.

sponsor, JP McManus said; “We are delighted that Team Limerick Clean-up took place for the second consecutive year. The increase in numbers by over 3,500 volunteers is testament to last year’s event and how much people wanted to get out to clean up their neighbourhoods and help make a difference. This year, we also have a huge interest in the tea/coffee gatherings hosted after the clean-ups which provide a great opportunity for neighbours and friends to catch up over a well-deserved cup of tea.It’s amazing that litter has brought so many people together, so there is good in every bad situation.”

He concluded; “The entire event is a huge community effort from the people of Limerick and we want to thank each and every one of them for taking part.”

Paul O’Connell added: “It’s great to see so many hi-vis jackets dotted along the roads with TLC2 13,500 volunteers busy picking, brushing and cleaning their areas. It makes me very proud to be a Limerick man and to witness this clean-up event having grown from strength to strength in the space of 12 months. We have started the ball rolling with a simple concept and it’s really positive that other counties are following suit.”

In Moyross, Mr McManus and Paul O’Connell were met by over 120 volunteers who were decked out in their hi-vis jackets for the big clean-up.

In Moyross JP planted a strawberry tree in the grounds of the playground of Moyross Community Enterprise Centre. Whilst Paul O’ Connell was presented with a picture from Deirdre Ryan, who is chairperson of Moyross Residents’ Forum.

Thanks to their hard work the Moyross group collected over 100 bags of rubbish. As a reward for their work, the TLC2 13,500 volunteers who took part in the mammoth clean-up were given free entry to Munster’s PRO12 clash with Zebre at Thomond Park on Friday night.

The TLC initiative was sponsored by the JP McManus Benevolent Fund and was co-ordinated by Limerick City and County Council and kindly partnered by Limerick’s Live 95FM, The Limerick Leader and Mr Binman.

Follow TLC2 on Twitter and Facebook
For more related stories by I Love Limerick, click here