‘It’s a nice feeling to receive an award like this in your own county...’
‘HUMBLED and honoured’ is how the former county manager of Kerry County Council, Tom Curran, described the moment he received The Lifetime Achievement Award at The Kerryman Business Awards before a packed audience at the Ballygarry Hotel on Friday evening.
The Cahersiveen native received the honour in recognition of his contribution to Kerry over many decades working with Kerry County Council. Mr Curran joined Kerry County Council in 1997 as county engineer. He took over as county manager in 2007 and served in the position until 2014. He was a key figure in setting up the ‘Go Kerry’ initiative, and also played a major role in connecting with Kerry’s diaspora.
“When John Feerick initially rang me to say I had been nominated for The Lifetime Achievement Award, I was surprised. But when he later phoned to say I had won it, I just said: ‘I don’t deserve this award’. I just felt I had done nothing special to deserve it. I just did what I had to do,” Tom said.
“But having got the award, and having people come up to me and congratulate me, saying, ‘well deserved’, is humbling and an honour. It is a nice culmination to the years of work, and it’s always nice to receive such a reward in your own county,” he added.
Tom graduated with a degree in civil engineering from University College Cork in 1976. In 1977, after brief spell working in London, he joined Sligo County Council before moving onto Drogheda Corporation and later Limerick County Council. In 1997 he became county engineer in Kerry and later became Director of Roads, and Killarney Town Manager. Mr Curran was the first serving Kerry-born official in the county to become county manager since the first county manager in the 1890s. He oversaw significant improvements in the economic and infrastructural development of the county during his term as manager
“To be appointed as county manager was, to some extent, something I had never envisaged in my career path. To be appointed as the first Kerry man, as manager, to your own county was also a huge honour for me. This gave me an opportunity to deliver projects with a singular focus. I’ve always had a huge interest in infrastructural work as an engineer; but when I became county manager I had to change my focus slightly towards job creation and tourism.”
Tom was instrumental in setting up ‘Go Kerry’ with the goal of making Kerry a stronger tourism entity. Tom cites his involvement in working to achieve UNESCO World Heritage status for Valentia Cable Station as something he took immense pride in.
“It was something I wanted to get off the ground before I left. I was surprised that Kerry didn’t have its own tourism forum, especially when you consider that tourism and agriculture are among the strongest drivers of the economy.”
He added: “Tourism is something I got great pleasure from, and working with various tourism groups in Kerry. They have always been great people to work with and are very enthusiastic. I want to thank to The Kerryman for their support over the years. Some of my colleagues around the country would not be able to say that they enjoy a similar relationship with their local newspaper. But I can always say that about Kerry.”