Newmarket pulls out all the stops as judges come calling
TOWN IS FINALIST IN NATIONAL BOI ENTERPRISE TOWN AWARDS
NEWMARKET Enterprise Network Group pulled out all the stops on Monday morning when judges for the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Town Awards paid a visit.
The town was looking its best ahead of their arrival following a lot of hard work undertaken by the town’s people in recent weeks.
The National Enterprise Town Awards recognises the spirit of enterprise in local areas across Ireland, bringing business and community groups together to showcase their efforts to build an economically sustainable community.
The judging process covers a wide range of areas including local enterprise initiatives, attractiveness of the town, enterprise partnerships, town leadership, overall community support as well as efforts to foster better inclusion and diversity.
A committee of local residents, organisations and businesses came together to form the Newmarket Enterprise Network to co-ordinate efforts for the competition. The group began from the committee who had fought so successfully to keep the ATM in town when the bank left Newmarket, and has absorbed additional members in the last few weeks.
The judges were greeted by the Newmarket Pipe Band at the steps of the James O’Keeffe Institute. They were then brought into the building, where Dónal O’Sullivan hosted a presentation which outlined three key areas that best showed the ‘spirit of enterprise’ in the town.
Dr Bertie Daly spoke passionately about the town as “a centre for excellence for health support”. He spoke about the “resilience, enthusiasm and the sense of coming together to get things done” that sets the local community apart.
IRD Duhallow CEO Maura Walsh spoke about the town as a rural development centre, outlining a strategic overview of the IRD group in four key areas: human resources, environmental, economic and cultural.
Dónal closed the presentation speaking about the town as a hub for commercial services, manufacturing and training.
Meanwhile, the specially erected Marquee at IRD Duhallow was a hive of activity with many of the business people from Newmarket and environs showcasing their products and services.
The cultural aspects of the locality were also portrayed with displays of restorative work undertaken at Clonfert Graveyard as well as the ongoing refurbishments at the McAuliffe Clan Centre.
Following a tour around the town, including a rendition of ‘Up Up Newmarket’ by the students at the boys school, the judges returned to the JOK where 28 local businesses and groups had stands displaying local products, services and activities. Future plans for the town were discussed, such as an upgrade for the tennis courts, plans for development of the nursing home, sheltered housing and amenities for the Island Wood.
The event came to a close with a special appearance by musician Liam O’Connor and his dancers, including local all-Ireland champion Caelann Feehan.
According to one of the presentations, in all about 500 people were involved in the preparations for the competition. Win or lose, just taking part has been inspiring and, all hope locally, will have an enduring positive impact on the community.
Ní neart go chur le chéile, as they say in Newmarket.