Knitting together an event to cope with pandemic times

By Sarah Slevin

Westmeath county council’s (WCC) biggest event of the annual calendar took an online format for the first time this year. Having been postponed, the 2020 Cathaoirleach Awards took place via live stream on YouTube on Friday June 11.

The event, which usually takes place at Belvedere House, honours people or groups who have given special service to their community in Westmeath. In its 14th year, the awards ceremony was hosted by Annette Barr Jordan, acting senior executive officer for the Community Development Section of WCC.

There were more than 20 nominees for the overall Cathaoirleach Award, and of those, there were six category winners along with the overall 2020 winner.

M4 Women’s Group and Knitting Club came out with the big win and were complimented for the supportive nature of their group.

The group knit items for senior citizens and the homeless and also supply the premature baby unit in Mullingar hospital with hats and cardigans for the babies.

Before the main award was announced, a number of other awards were given. The first award of the night was the IBP Pride of Place award, won by Fore Heritage and Amenity Group, who were runners-up at the National Pride of Place Awards last year.

Westmeath county councillor, Frank McDermott, is chairperson for the group and accepted the award, alongside June O’Reilly, who hosts their meetings in her coffee shop.

“This is a special place; we’ve made great and ambitious plans to develop our loop walk. We have a plan for 5km and 8km walks over the coming years, which will take in most of the valley here,” Cllr McDermott said. “We’re delighted, Fore is a little village with a big heart.”

The other finalists in the running were Clonmellon Community Gardens and the Irish Road Victims Association.

The WCC Project of the Year was next and went close to the wire with one winner, and two runners-up – Mullingar Harriers and Ashcroft Park residents group, who both received €2,500 for their efforts. The winner of the award was Mount Carmel Drive Residents Association in Moate for a project to create a space to enhance the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of all residents by creating a playground amenity area with equipment for those with special needs. The Mount Carmel group also received a category award for Community Involvement.

Other winners on the night included Noel Cuffe of Ballymore, whose work in the village was honoured with the Environment and Heritage award. Noel had been working on a number of projects, including a collection of historical photos of the area for a book.

Sadly, Noel passed away in April 2020, but others in the village carried on with the project for him and the book ‘Two Ends and the Middle’ came to fruition.

Noel was a big part of the community in Ballymore and was remembered on the night for his “unmatchable memory” of the history of the village.

The Active Elderly award was won by Collinstown Fore ICA, who have been running for 34 years.

Two individuals were given category awards – the Equality and Social Inclusion award was given to Gerry Callaghan for his work with New Horizons. They described Gerry as having a “heart full of grace and a soul generated by love”.

The last of the category awards of the night was the Sports and Recreation award, and Margaret Beirne won it and was commended for the vast amount of time and effort she has put in to her area to include the young and old in sports.

Inny Football Club were rewarded for their work with more than 200 young people in that area and were given the Children and Youth Supports award.

There were many speakers and guest appearances on the night in the smoothly-run online event.

The first speaker was the 2020 cathaoirleach of Westmeath County Council, Cllr Paddy Hill, who said that the awards are to recognise the work being done by those in the county.

“WCC recognises the vast amount of services and activities that are facilitated and co-ordinated through community and voluntary groups,” Cllr Hill said.

He also touched on how the year was even harder but that the work that has been done in the past 12 months is “inspiring”.

Pat Gallagher, chief executive of WCC, complimented the efforts Cllr Hill had gone to in order to carry out the 2020 awards safely in line with public health guidelines. He also congratulated all the nominees, saying that it was a great honour to be nominated for a Cathaoirleach Award.

The limelight was then passed to Mick Foster of Foster and Allen, who, keeping it short and sweet, said it was “great to see” the community unite and ending with a simple “keep her lit”.

A performance was next in the evening’s proceedings with a rendition of ‘Caledonia’ by Mullingar’s Mary Egan. After the long list of nominees were spoken about for the overall Cathaoirleach award, a strong presence filled the screen in the form of story-teller Paul Curley.

After that, the overall winner of the night was crowned with M4 women’s group and knitting club coming out victorious.

READ MORE

https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2021/06/24/fore-takes-pride-of-place-prize/

https://www.westmeathexaminer.ie/2021/06/24/castlepollard-knitters-delighted-to-win-overall-award/