Mayo scoops two national awards

Mayo scoops two national awards


Anna-Marie Flynn

MAYO scooped two prestigious awards at the Excellence in Local Government Awards last week.
Mayo County Council’s Science and Technology Festival was named a winner in the County/City Development Board of the Year category, while Ballina Town Council took the title in the Supporting Tourism category for ‘Ireland’s Memory: The Jackie Clarke Collection’.
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr John Gormley, presented the awards, organised by Chambers Ireland, at a gala ceremony in the Burlington Hotel last Thursday night.
For Ballina Town Council, the only urban authority in the county to be shortlisted, the news came as extra special as the Jackie Clarke Library was allocated €1 million funding by Failte Ireland. The grant will now go towards housing what is considered the most important private collection of Irish history in public hands. It consists of more than 100,000 historical items spanning four centuries of history.
This is the seventh year of the Chambers Ireland awards which are held annually in association with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.    Minister Gormley acknowledged the work of Chambers Ireland in facilitating the awards and their involvement in promoting good practice among local authorities, and said he was “pleased to see so many short-listed projects involved innovation and supported local communities including businesses”.
Minister Gormley also used the gala ceremony to reiterate the value of the relationship between local government and business and said “this relationship needs to continue and be encouraged for the benefit of the local economy”.  He went on to say that “local businesses will now have the opportunity to engage more fully with local authorities and other public bodies, through the new Business Users Forum, which I’ve recently asked to be put in place under the auspices of the economic committee of the County/City Development Board in each county and city council area”.
As part of a range of measures to aid economic recovery, the Minister referred to the need for continued reductions in commercial rates over the next two years which he believes will contribute to competitiveness and encourage enterprise.
Mayo enjoyed triple representation at last week’s awards as the county was shortlisted for a total of three awards with Mayo Community Futures Programme included in the Supporting Active Communities category. However the programme lost out to winners, Dublin South’s Link 2B Active.
The awards demonstrate the commitment shown by individuals in local government to improving the wide range of services provided by the sector.