Enterprise town winners to be revealed

THE winners in the Bank of Ireland NETA enterprise town awards will be announced at a presentation in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny on Thursday, December 5.

The National Enterprise Town Awards competition promotes enterprise by bringing business and community groups together, in towns and villages across Ireland, to showcase the spirit of enterprise in their local area.

The judges of the competition visited Charleville last September to assess the integration of the local community and the many aspects of life in the town which brings people together. The visit was hosted by Charleville Chamber, who gave an overview of their role in the community, and also included input from local schools, industry, the retail sector social, disabled and those on the autism spectrum, youth organisations, history, heritage and charitable organisations and the tidy towns committee.

The visit to Charleville was co-ordinated by James Sheehy of the local Bank of Ireland branch. A number of representatives from these organisations will be present on the night at the awards ceremony.

There is a total prize fund of €193,000 and the winners will be announced at the gala awards ceremony taking place at The Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny.

The Bank of Ireland-supported competition received a total of 107 entries with judges spending over 230 hours listening to and observing over 80 towns, villages and urban areas across Ireland. The judges report that the standard this year has been the highest to date, leaving them with the very difficult decision of crowning Ireland’s Most Enterprising Town 2019.

The prizes will be awarded for the following categories: regional winners, regional-runners-up, national category winners, town initiatives of the year, city winners, rising star winner.