Mayo Day 2019 to be the best yet

 ‘GET INVOLVED’ Mayo County Council CE Peter Hynes speaking at a previous Mayo Day event.

Mayo Day, the day dedicated to the celebration of County Mayo returns for its fifth year, on Saturday, May 4, 2019.
It has garnered recognition as an anticipated yearly celebration of Mayo’s community ethos, with activities taking place locally, nationally and internationally, catapulting the ties of Mayo togetherness onto a global scale. The Mayo Day 2018 ‘Made of Mayo’ event in Ballinrobe Racecourse was a great success, bringing people from throughout the county and far beyond together in celebration.
2019 sees the launch of a new theme for ‘Mayo Day: The Mayo Word’, representing the county’s communities, creativity and connection to a pride of place both at home and around the globe.
‘The Mayo Word’ will be discussed, celebrated and defined through this Mayo Day campaign that will be launched in Spring 2019, culminating in a flagship event taking place at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life, Turlough on Saturday, May 4, 2019.
Announcing Mayo Day 2019, Cllr Blackie Gavin, Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, said: “Mayo Day is a leading campaign of Mayo County Council that has gone from strength to strength over the past four years, from local national and international events, to an online social media presence that saw #MayoDay trending around the world. Mayo Day is a force to be reckoned with. I am delighted to see the 2019 flagship event take place at the National Museum in Turlough, the perfect setting for a festival of all things Mayo. It will be a wonderful opportunity for people from across the county and country to celebrate with the Mayo community,” he said.
Involving writers, poets, historians, musicians, business leaders and thinkers, athletes, innovators, communities and children, the campaign will focus on all the elements of where the Mayo Word can be found in discourse, stories, poetry, song, even non-verbal communication.

‘Sense of pride’
Peter Hynes, Chief Executive of Mayo County Council said: “Mayo Day 2019 is all about asking ourselves the questions: what does being part of the Mayo community mean to me? How do I communicate my sense of pride of being from Mayo? The Mayo Word and how it is conveyed into action will be represented throughout all elements this year’s Mayo Day campaign and we ask people at home and away to start thinking about how they might like to get involved this year.”
Now more than ever Mayo writers are achieving awards, accolades and top positions on best-selling lists around the world. Castlebar native Sally Rooney’s widely-acclaimed ‘Normal People’ scooped the coveted Eason Book Club Novel of the Year and was also shortlisted for the Costa Novel Award. Mike McCormick’s ‘Solar Bones’ is a one of the most celebrated new novels by an Irish writer in recent times. Cora Staunton’s award-winning biography and Mary Robinson’s ‘Climate Justice’ are two contemporary new releases that are making waves on the Irish bestsellers’ lists. Mayo writing has never been so relevant and the Mayo Word will honour and celebrate these achievements, along with many others.

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For further information, news and updates stay tuned to www.Mayo.ie, www.facebook.com/MayoDotIE, www.twitter.com/MayoDotIE, www.instagram.com/mayo.ie/
and follow #MayoDay2019 to find out more.