Fore takes Pride of Place prize
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ABOVE: Frank McDermott with his sister Tess and the Pride of Place Award 2020 in front of their mother Nancy’s cottage, now a point of interest on St Feichin’s Trail. The painting of Nancy was commissioned by Fore Heritage and Amenity group and painted by local artist Teresa Doyle.Image 2 of 3
LEFT: The McCormack family, Glenidan, Brian and Marie, his son Dara, daughter Alison and her friend JJ Burn. Brian built this table and benches for the trail in Fore and it sits in the shadow of his upland farm on the peak of the Ben of Fore. Brian is one of the volunteers helping develop the area, and he is giving the old dancehall a facelift to return it to its former glory.Image 3 of 3
Mary Mortimer, Eileen Castles and Eilis Walsh with the award representing St Feichin’s NS, Fore. Events listed in the competition last year included a number designed for young students including Bioblitzes, Archaeology, Water and wildlife, horrible histories and animation. The school and the families of the school community play an important part in the community-led development of the area.By Sarah Slevin
Fore has been on an awards roll in recent years and scooped another at the 2020 Cathaoirleach Awards, the IBP Pride of Place award, awarded to its Heritage and Amenity Group.
In 2017, the creation of a looped walk helped the group win in the National Pride of Place, beating big tourism spots such as The Castlecomer Discovery Park in Kilkenny. They were also runners-up at the National Pride of Place Awards last year.
The group are grateful to those in the community and to Westmeath County Council who have been a big support. June O’Reilly, who hosts group meetings in her coffee shop, and is also volunteer on the tourism committee, said their success at such awards in recent years was thanks to the strengths of those in the community.
“A lot of people in Fore are so talented. It’s great to see another national Pride of Place win for our area, it really honours the work of so many,” June said.
Cllr Frank McDermott, chairperson of the group, said that they were delighted with the win and that Fore is “a little village with a big heart”.
“This is a very special place; we’ve made great and ambitious plans going forward to develop our loopwalk. We have a plan for a 5km and 8km walk over the coming years, which will take in most of the valley here,” Cllr McDermott said.
While Covid-19 has put many things on hold for the past 15 months, Cllr McDermott commented that it did not stop this group from working together.
“Covid-19 had a huge impact on all of us, but it also brought our communities even closer together and we saw such strong, resilient community spirit,” the councillor said.
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https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2021/06/24/castlepollard-knitters-delighted-to-win-overall-award/
https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2021/06/24/knitting-together-an-event-to-cope-with-pandemic-times/