Three community groups in Roscommon have been nominated to represent the county in this year’s All-Ireland Pride of Place competition. Local adjudication for this year’s awards took place in the county last week.
The awards, now in their 20th year, acknowledge community endeavour and initiative in the voluntary and community sectors across the island of Ireland. The awards are organised by Irish Public Bodies (IPB) on behalf of the local Government sector.
Three community groups, The Melting Pot Community Society Ltd., who operate a drop-in Café and community space in Roscommon town; Lisnamult Tenants and Residents Association, also in Roscommon town and Lough Ree Angling Hub have been nominated for this year’s awards on behalf of Roscommon County Council.
The judges, John Fitzgerald, former Chief Executive of Dublin City Council, and former Finance Officer with Leitrim County Council, Katrina Murphy visited each of the groups last week.
Service Manager at The Melting Pot, Monica Gaffney told the judges that the service, established in 2005, was “crucial” to its clients.
The Melting Pot, which also launched a succesful ‘Dinner 4 U’ service in 2021, was nominated in the Community Wellbeing Initiative category.
As part of the Lough Ree Angling Hub, the Lough Ree ‘Access for All’ project has been focussed on promotion and delivering access to Lough Ree and the River Shannon since 2015, thanks to the vision of Alan Broderick and other community members.
The initiative was nominated in the year’s Community Tourism Initiative category, and Helen Dolan, who presented a background of the Angling Hub’s work to the visiting judges, said the idea was “to take away fear” and give freedom to users.
Meanwhile, the community of Lisnamult, runners-up in the competition in 2017, have been nominated in the Urban Neighbourhoods category this year.
Anthony Doolan of the Lisnamult Residents Association, Lisa O’Neill, manager of Greenfields Childcare Ltd, Liam Stephens, representing Roscommon Sports Park, and Jacqui McCormack, Roscommon Special Olympics, each gave presentations to the visiting judges.
The winners of this year’s Pride of Place awards will be announced at a gala awards ceremony in Dublin in January 2023.
