The first thing to do is to find other people who think the same way you do. You can't change your town on your own and its very likely there are others that will also want to get involved. Start talking to people about your ideas. Try sending leaflets around the neighbourhood and invite people to a public meeting to get the ball roling.

Make a list of local organisations - the council, the chamber of commerce, traders' associations, the GAA club, the Gardaí - Ask them along to the meeting too. The more you work together to change things - the more you will be able to achieve. It will be essential to find people with different practical skills - organizers, fundraisers, builders, bankers and motivators if you want to make changes in your town.

You need to decide what you want to achieve. What does the community need? Is it a playground for the kids? A community centre for the elderly? Work on a possible tourist attraction? A market to give local producers an outlet for their wares? Make decisions based on the needs on the community as the first priority.

Pick projects that people are committed to and can afford to maintain. There's no point in building an community garden if there aren't enough enthusiasts to tend it and keep it flourishing. There's no point In an allotment that no-one will lock up at night.

You're going to need money and probably a fair bit of it. Identify the best people at fundraising and make sure someone prominent in the business community is involved in this. Find out what grants are available, how the council can release funding and if local businesses are able to come onboard to give financial support.

Just because you feel you started the ball rolling doesn't mean you have to be in charge. Projects have failed because someone felt they should be higher up the pecking order, or because a group of people felt frozen out. We've seen it happen. Dirty Old Towns is about people working together, not getting brownie points.This isn't politics. This is life.

Once you get started keep people informed. You might get fresh volunteers to lend a hand at a later stage and give a much needed boost to a project mid way through. Invite the local press to cover stories about what you are doing and send in photos of the launch of a new project as well as the opening event when it's complete.