Bunclody buzzing after winning ‘Oscars’ of community awards
BUNCLODY’s win in this year’s national Pride of Place competition has been described as being akin to winning an Oscar.
The town won the award for the category catering for areas with a population of between 2,000 and 5,000 people.
The annual competition is often referred to as the Oscars of the community sector and it celebrated the unsung work of community groups all over the country.
Organised by Co- Operation Ireland and sponsored by IPB Insurance the initiative sees local authorities all over the country nominating outstanding projects they feel contribute to civic pride.
At this month’s meeting of Enniscorthy Municipal District Council, Cllr Barbara-Anne Murphy complimented everyone involved in securing the win for Bunclody.
She said it brought an enormous amount of pride to the area and she complimented Local Link for providing a bus to the awards ceremony in Cork.
As part of the competition Tom Dowling, who founded of the Pride of Place Completion in 2003, visited Bunclody on Thursday July 26, with his wife Alison.
Cllr Murphy, who is the Chairperson of the Town Team for the competition, assisted by Cllr Kathleen Codd-Nolan gave a 45-minute presentation in ArtBank informing the visitors about Bunclody and community activism in the town.
At the monthly meeting Cllr Codd-Nolan emphasised that the competition was a 32-county initiative and that a lot of people were involved in it.
‘We should thank everybody who was involved in it because it was a huge achievement,’ she said.
They highlighted everything from the building of the first community owned swimming pool in the early 1970’s to the volunteer led Tourist Office that’s in the town today.
The Dowlings were then taken on a two-hour tour of the community facilities available in the town.
Marika Mahon, from Slaney Foods, prepared the power point presentation which was also shown to the visiting judges to highlight everything that is going on in the area.
Bunclody was entered into the competition by Wexford County Council and Enniscorthy District Manager, Liz Hore, along with senior officials, Michael Sweeney and Ger Mackey, from the local authority’s community section, attended the awards ceremony.
The town itself was represented at the event by Cllr. Codd-Nolan, Teresa Harte, Úna Murphy and Joe O’Reilly.
In their summary the judges said ‘Bunclody is a pretty town’ which has a lot to offer locals and visitors.
They highlighted hand-gliding, fishing, heritage trails, stunning scenery, culture, sports, food and drink as being among the many local attractions and activities available.
They also noted the fact that the town was one of 10 chosen to feature in the prestigious Annual Architectural Biennale in Venice - under the banner of ‘Freespace’.
They said they were impressed from the very moment they entered the town and described the presentation to them as being ‘first class’.
‘ This town has a strong partnership approach between community and sporting organisations, businesses, voluntary bodies and the local councils of two counties,’ they said.
‘ The inclusion of all diverse groupings of residents is obvious.’