Murrisk does Mayo proud

Murrisk receives top prize at Pride of Place Awards


Áine Ryan

COUNTY MAYO scooped three prizes at the 2010 Pride of Place Awards announced at the weekend with Murrisk Development Association receiving one of the top prizes. Both Westport Multi-Agency Enterprise Group and Crimlin Community Arts also received runner-up awards.
The awards for the annual Co-operation Ireland All-Island Pride of Place Competition were announced in Trim, County Meath, where Minister for Transport, Noel Dempsey, made the presentations during a gala ceremony. It was  hosted by Meath County Council with TV personality Marty Whelan acting as MC for the evening.
Murrisk’s  top prize was in the category for areas with a population of less than 200. The judges said: “We are very impressed by a wonderful community doing incredible work in many areas and projects. The backdrop of magnificent scenery underscores the desirability of this village as a place to live. Through unstinting effort the village became the site of a National Famine Memorial and a well-appointed Interpretive Centre and is a perfect starting point and tourist attraction for visitors to Croagh Patrick. That much has been achieved in such a small village is testament to the sheer dedication, hard work and community spirit of its remarkable inhabitants.”
During the evening, the Minster paid tribute to all the participating groups who work tirelessly to create and promote pride in their cities, towns and villages.
Peter Sheridan Chief Executive of Co-operation Ireland said: “Winning a Pride of Place Award is a great achievement – it recognises and celebrates those people who work tirelessly for the good of their community. Although there can only be one winner in each category, the Pride of Place Competition is an opportunity to acknowledge the efforts of all groups nominated by their local authority.
This is the eighth year of the Pride of Place Competition, which is run by Co-operation Ireland in partnership with the All-Island Local Authority Steering Forum, a forum, which encourages strategic and sustainable approaches to cross-border co-operation by Local Authorities.