Two Mayo projects will be vying for honours at the National Pride of Place Awards which will take place in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin on Sunday, January 21st.
Mayo will be represented by two exceptionally strong projects: Kilmovee in the 300 to 1,000 Population Category and Achill Tourism in the Community Tourism category.
The groups were nominated in 2022 by Mayo County Council. Representatives from each group will travel to Dublin for the announcement of the results.
Pride of Place is an annual all-island competition organised by Co-operation Ireland, IPB Insurance and Local Authority partners which acknowledges the incredible work of communities all over the island of Ireland. Judging took place in August.
The competition focus is about people coming together to shape, change and improve daily lives in their communities. Since the competition commenced in 2003, it has impacted on hundreds of thousands of people, all of whom are proud of their place. The competition is based on communities demonstrating directly to the judges their pride in their place by oral presentations where they highlight community activities, culture and many other aspects that contribute to their pride of place. It is also important that the community demonstrates a real partnership with their local authority and shows that all sectors of the community are included.
Over the two days in Mayo the judges did not conceal their admiration for the incredible displays of the two shortlisted communities. They commented on the ‘enthusiasm, commitment and innovation shown’ and acknowledged the unparalleled quality of the presentations and the incredible effort put in by the participating communities.
Spokesperson and Head of Community Engagement for Mayo County Council, Deirdre Finnerty, said about the event, “regardless of the outcome of the national competition, in our view our four nominees are already winners.”
Source: Mayo County Council