Ballycroy man honoured

Ballycroy man picked as ‘Real Hero’


Anton McNulty

BALLYCROY man Eddie Conway has been picked as one of the ‘Real Heroes’ of the SuperValu Tidy Town’s competition in recognition of his tireless work in the community.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tidy Town’s competition and honour the countless individuals involved in Tidy Town committees, SuperValu invited their customers to nominate their Real Heroes at stores all over Ireland. From hundreds of entries, Eddie, along with nine other people were picked by the judging panel as inspirations for their work in the Tidy Towns.
Eddie has been involved in village enhancement for 12 years and Ballycroy joined the Tidy Towns competition in 2003. Since then they won the Special Endeavour award in 2005 as well as winning various prizes run by Mayo County Council. He has been described by his peers as a “sociable gent with a slightly shy nature” that works behind the scenes and out of the lime- light, who ploughs ahead and gets the job done.
Speaking to The Mayo News, Eddie said he was shocked to hear he was picked for the nomination and not something he was expecting or looking for. He said the Ballycroy Tidy Towns Committee was a team effort and they put in a lot of work ahead of the competition.
“To be honest I didn’t know anything about this and it is not a thing I would be looking for because we are all part of a group here in Ballycroy. Our committee here do a lot of work for the Tidy Towns Competition and a lot of planning goes into it every year. Since we joined five years ago we have got constantly high marks in our category and we look to improving on that in the future,” he said.
Richard Lennen, SuperValu Regional Manager said, “The success of Tidy Towns is a testament to the unfailing dedication of the committees and individuals all over Ireland who have taken time out from their busy lives to improve their communities. We are delighted to celebrate Eddie - a true hero who has worked tirelessly to make Ballycroy and Mayo a better place to live, work and to visit.”