Community spirit on show in night of appreciation

COMMUNITY spirit was the order of the evening in Killarney’s Dromhall Hotel last Wednesday night as 20 finalists in the Kerry Community Awards gathered for the 12th year of the celebration of local community groups.

A night of appreciation dedicated entirely to celebrating the community and its many volunteers and community employees, the evening marked a return for the awards and there were a few changes this year. For instance, winners received gold and silver awards – 10 groups were selected for each – and they each came away with cheques for €1,000 and €500 respectively.

The night was opened by MC for the evening John Breen from Kerry County Council, who kept the crowd suitably entertained throughout with his off-thecuff wit and speeches followed from Mayor of Kerry Michael O’Shea, Build4Life founder and guest speaker Joe Browne, Kerryman Editor Kevin Hughes, Chairman of the Kerry Community Awards Sean Quinlan and Chief Executive of Kerry County Council, Moira Murrell.

As each of the gold winners were welcomed to the stage, Kevin Hughes – a judge alongside Niamh O’Sullivan (KCC), Triona Murphy (IRD Duhallow) and Dr Brendan O’Keeffe – read out a short piece highlighting just why the judging panel had chosen each project. And there was a suitably vociferous reaction as the Social Farming Project was announced as this year’s overall winner.

Meanwhile, the entertainment highlight of the night went to singer Bryan Carr and his stupendous turn as ‘head chef Luciano’ as he kept guests entertained throughout the dinner with a selection of impressive melodies, including a rousing rendition of ‘Irelands Call’.

With a first class meal from host venue The Dromhall Hotel who have been long term sponsors of the competition, what more could you ask for from a night out?

Here’s to next year.