Partners can no longer nominate for local awards

Westmeath County Council has decided to formally ban partners from nominating their other halves for any of the annual "Cathaoirleach's awards"."It has happened in the past!" stated Council administrative officer, Annette Barr-Jordan as she circulated members of the Economic and Community Development SPC with details of changes proposed to the awards scheme.Ms. Barr-Jordan said that there may be different headings introduced under the scheme, as there were some awards that were similar in nature.In addition, the qualification criteria are to be tightened up. The suggestion is that in future individuals should be nominated by a committee rather than another individual; a nominee once nominated can only be considered again after 3-4 years; applications should be accompanied by a 200-word statement explaining why the nominee's name was put forward.A final proposed change was that "under no circumstances can a nomination be accepted if submitted by the partner of said nominee", Ms. Barr-Jordan revealed. Also being suggested was that on the grants side, there were increased linkages with the VEC to ensure there is no duplication of a particular project; and, she continued, a requirement that organisations obtaining grants provide an account afterwards of how the money was used.