#ReadySpreadyGo! Limerick City and County Council invites the weird, wacky and wonderful in name game for gritting and road repair vehicles

21/05/2020 Two new vehicles which have been purchased by Limerick City and County Council. A Road Sweeper and a Velocity Patcher. Pic: Don Moloney

NO โ€˜Gritter Thunbergโ€™,ย โ€˜Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machineyโ€™ or even a wilder card again, โ€˜Boatyย McBoatfaceโ€™ โ€“ theyโ€™re all gone! But Limerick City and County Council is, nonetheless, invitingย entries in a competitionย to name itsย newย winter maintenanceย vehicles.

Ahead of snow forecast for this week, the local authority is todayย launchingย aย public competition to nameย itsย fiveย specialisedย vehiclesย critical to keeping our roadsย slip and pothole free, with winners set to claim aย nice COVID reward for their efforts.ย The vehicles includeย threeย โ€˜velocity patchersโ€™ย used to repair potholesย and two dedicatedย roadย gritters whichย are used to spread grit (rock salt), ontoย Limerickโ€™sย roads.

Day and night throughout the year, but particularly in the winter months, these vehicles and council workers ensure thatย theย roadsย across Limerick are kept safe and open for traffic.ย And the local authority is now keen to send their drivers to workย inย vehiclesย with names that put a smile onย theirย faces.

The publicย isย invited to submit entries viaย Limerick.ieย before Sunday 21ย February 2021ย or on Limerick City and County Councilโ€™s social media platformsย –ย Limerick.ie Facebook,ย Limerick.ie Twitter,ย Limerick.ie Instagram,ย Limerick City and County Council Twitter, andย Limerick City and County Council LinkedIn.

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A shortlist of names will then be sharedย on Limerick Cityย andย County Councilโ€™s Twitterย account @LimerickCouncilย where theย publicย willย castย itsย vote to choose the names for each vehicle.

Mayor ofย the City and County of Limerickย Cllrย Michael Collinsย said:ย โ€œThis competition will be a great bit of fun and God knows we could do with it now.ย Weโ€™re expecting the weird, wacky and wonderful by way of entries.ย ย The idea of one of our employees driving โ€˜Gritney Spearsโ€™ or โ€˜Bradย Grittโ€™ย to work doesย put a smile on the face so we are looking for the public to let the creative juices flow on this.โ€

โ€œWe have over 4,000ย km of roads in Limerick that are maintained by the council. I think we are particularly cognisant of the work they do at this time of year as we see those amber lights flashing as they grit roads during sub-zero temperatures, often right into the small hours.ย So,ย itโ€™s important that we maintain and update our fleet and this investment byย Limerick Cityย andย County Councilย is in keeping with that.ย And itโ€™s also important if we can put a smile on their facesย as they get behind the wheel daily.โ€

Laura Ryan, Head of Marketing and Communicationsย at Limerick City and County Councilย added:ย โ€œLimerick is known for its creativity, its gritย โ€“ excuse the pun –ย and we are testing that with thisย funย competition!ย Weโ€™ve seen internationally what such naming competitionsย throw upย namesย from Usain Salt to Spready Mercuryย but weโ€™re just going to embraceย itย and let it run.ย With a lot of children remote learning at the momentย and snow forecast for the week, they may be particularly interestedย in gettingย creative to enter this competition and winning a great prize!โ€

โ€œThe five winners will each win a โ‚ฌ100 Limerick restaurant voucher of their choice to support the hospitality industry when it opens back up.ย Weโ€™re looking forward to getting a shortlist together that the public can vote on and most importantly, letย people haveย a bit of craicย during lockdown.โ€

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