ROUNDWOOD AND WICKLOW IMPRESS ENTERPRISE JUDGES

There was great praise for Roundwood and Wicklow town’s presentations for the National Enterprise Town Awards at last Monday’s meeting of Wicklow Municipal District.

Roundwood and Wicklow town were nominated by Wicklow County Council to take part in the awards. Judges visited both towns on the same day recently as part of the awards which are aimed at the promotion of enterprise by bringing business and community sectors together.

Roundwood was nominated in the category for towns up to a population of 5,000.

District Administrator Joan Sinnott was involved in both presentations and, on Monday, praised the two communities involved for their support.

‘We met the judges in the morning and brought them on a tour of Roundwood and the lovely walks and scenery in the area. Then we visited different aspects of the reservoir walk. An expo was held in the local hall and there was a real sense of community present. The judges heard about the walk and how the local community is working on new projects all the time,’ sad Ms Sinnott.

Cllr Shay Cullen was also involved in the Roundwood presentation.

‘ The people of Roundwood were delighted to be involved. There was a massive effort put in by so many people, especially the Roundwood and District Community Council,’ said Cllr Cullen.

Wicklow town was nominated in the 10,000+ category because of the collaborative work carried out by the Town Team in the last year.

Talking about the presentation by the county town, Ms Sinnott said: ‘We brought them to Wicklow Golf Club for the great panoramic views. Then a Civil Defence bus brought them on a tour of the town. Roy Conway provided a good description of the activity taking place at the harbour. We were brought on a tour of Marine House and also visited the book shop and Gelletlie. We then visited Wicklow Gaol and went through the history and meet the different characters. We went to An Tairseach and their ecology centre. Then back at the Grand Hotel over 80 businesses, sporting clubs and organisations were gathered’.

Ninety towns and villages will be judged in this year’s awards which has a prize fund of €157,000 with the overall winner receiving a cash prize totalling €33,000. The winners will be announced at a gala awards ceremony at The Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny, on November 28.