County Mayor's Diary
On Monday I had the privilege of hosting the Annual Mayor’s Community Awards in County Hall. These awards recognise the very best that county Cork has to offer in terms of voluntary and community work.
Every aspect of community life was represented. Be it by the provision of care, amenities, entertainment, support, and knowledge or the preservation of our built and natural environment, or our physical and cultural heritage, the groups and individuals nominated have made invaluable contributions to life in County Cork.
What’s truly remarkable about those nominated is that they do incredible work for their communities with their own time.
For my own part, I have been involved with many community and voluntary groups in my home of Bantry. Working with West Cork Rural Transport, or Cork Local Link as it is now known, and Cancer Connect has been a hugely rewarding experience for me. It further connected me with my community, it opened my eyes to other people and it was invaluable from a social perspective.
I would strongly encourage those who can spare the time to get involved with a community group. It will be of great benefit to you as an individual and you can really make a big difference to your community. In county Cork, we are spoiled with the quality of these groups.
The overall winners for the group category, Clean Coasts Ballynamona, are a fantastic examples of what can be accomplished together. They started with the singular mission of keeping Ballynamona Beach and the adjacent wetlands litter free. Now, through their ambition and by developing connections with the wider community they have initiated the East Cork Biodiversity Networking Programme.
They’ve engaged in beach cleans throughout East Cork, erected swift boxes, helped landowners tackle Japanese Knotweed and have tackled fly tipping with signage and cameras that they purchased themselves.
The overall winner from the individual category, Paul Kavanagh, has been a champion for Fermoy, which been awarded Cleanest Town of 2018 by the Irish Business Against Litter. Paul was instrumental in achieving this accolade.
This victory came five years after Paul developed the Fermoy A Cleaner Town initiative for businesses and residents. He worked tirelessly with other volunteers, businesses, residents associations and local development groups to bring about a change in attitudes and behaviours in his town that have earned national recognition.
The quality of life in county Cork is defined by the hard work and dedication of people and groups like Paul, Ballynamona Clean Coasts, Kildorrery Community Development CLG, Liz Downes, Brand Blarney, Mary P Murphy, Bantry Development and Tourism Volunteers, Ellen Logan, Majella McCarthy – all of whom I was delighted to award on Monday – and the countless others who give their time freely for their communities.
We are truly blessed with the strength of community spirit.