|
PLEA TO MAYO PUBLIC TO BE LITTER CONSCIOUS AS By Deirdre Kelly THE Castlebar Tidy Towns Committee and the Ballina Street Festival Committee were the winner of the 1998 TSB Bank Community Awards and share the prize fund of £2,000. The presentations of the cheques took place at Breaffy House Hotel, Castlebar where both organisations were praised for the vast input they made to their respective communities. The awards are run by TSB bank in conjunction with the Connaught Telegraph and the Western People newspapers. Mr. Declan O'Connor manager TSB Bank, Castlebar said the bank saw the awards as their way of giving something back to the community. They were delighted with the response. He added: "It is only far too often that the hard work and endeavours of people involved in the various communities around the county go unnoticed. But these awards will go some way to acknowledging this. " He said the adjudicators had a very difficult task in selecting the winners. But at the end of the day it was very easy to acknowledge the hard work being carried out by both winners over the past number of years. The Castlebar Tidy Towns committee, a voluntary organisation, was set up in November 1994. It adopted the slogan "Keep Castlebar Clean" to promote awareness within the community of its anti litter campaign. The aims of the committee are to enhance and beautify the town and its environs and thereby have a clean and healthy environment; to promote awareness of litter and thereby change peoples attitude and behaviour towards litter and to encourage and promote the active participation of the community in achieving these objectives. The committee has worked as an umbrella group bringing together residents associations, clubs, organisations, business sector, schools and state bodies. Together with Mayo County Council and Castlebar Urban Council they work in a co-ordinated manner to pull together the various groups in the promotion of the town. With an expenditure of £30,900 the committee have a shortfall of £7,700. Mr. Sean Leahy, manager TSB Bank, Ballina said the Ballina Salmon Festival Committee was originally formed in 1964 in order to provide events and entertainment in North Mayo around the peak season in mid July each year. In the 1980's the festival lapsed and some years later was revived with the establishment of the Ballina street Festival. The main event takes place in mid July to coincide with the annual Northern Ireland traditional holiday period. Up to 100,000 people attend the various events throughout the week from all over the country, Northern Ireland and the UK. The events vary from outdoor music, street entertainment to workshops for young people with the internationally renowned heritage day, street carnival and international evening attracting up to 30,000 people annually with over 200 locals voluntarily designing and participating. The estimated value to the local economy is £2.5m. Mr. Tom Gillespie, Editor, Connaught Telegraph congratulated both winners. They were both well deserving of the honour for all the hard work they have down the years. He said the Ballina Street Festival had been leaders in the field when Festivals were a dime a dozen but Ballina were always market leaders. He said from the Connaught Telegraph point of view he was very delighted that the Castlebar Tody Towns Committee had been singled out because the newspapers former advertising manager, the late Mr. PJ Hennelly had been to the forefront in promoting the Tidy Towns ideal when he was president of Castlebar Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Gillespie said: "He led by example. He took his jacket off, put his sleeves up and got out there with the rest of the committee in collecting rubbish." Mr. Terry Reilly, Managing Editor, Western People also paid tribute to the winners. He referred to the development of the Ballina Salmon Festival and its great resurgence in the 1980's. It was now worth millions of pounds to Ballina. There was tremendous originality displayed each year by the festival organisers. He said the Castlebar Tidy Towns Committee under chairman Joe Butler were deserving winners. He remembered the work of PJ Hennelly and how proud he was of keeping Castlebar tidy. His agenda was that Castlebar would win the Tidy Towns competition. "It was a tall order but I know the many voluntary groups will push that ideal forward and one day Castlebar will reach its goal,." he said Mr. Reilly raid tribute to the TSB for initiating the awards. He thanked the mayo Person of the Year Sean Hannick for attending. Mr. Terry McCoole, chairman Ballina Urban Council said the Castlebar Tidy Towns Committee deserve great credit. Without a doubt it was always the voluntary sector that always come out on top in Mayo. He said: "Unfortunately we rely too much on the voluntary sector. They could be getting better support elsewhere. But Mayo are second to none when it comes to the voluntary sector. There could be no greater advice we could give to our children but to get involved in the likes of the Tidy Towns of the festival committees." Mr. McCoole paid tribute to the Ballina Street Festival Committee who had won many other awards for their great work in the past. The festival was now recognised internationally due solely to the great work of the organising committee.. He paid tribute to Terry Reilly of the Western People and Tom Gillespie of the Connaught Telegraph for supporting the event along with Sean Leahy and Declan O'Connor of the TSB Bank. Mr. Blackie Gavin, Chairman Castlebar Urban Council congratulate the winners on being joint winners. The Ballina Festival Committee he said did a great job while Joe Butler and his team in Castlebar Tidy Towns had been outstanding over the years. He made a direct appeal to the Editors of both newspapers to promote the idea of keeping Mayo clean and green. He said there was a great drive against litter with the appointment of litter wardens. "It is time people were brought to task. The amount of litter we see on the streets is a disgrace. We have a beautiful county and we should keep it that way. "I am appealing to everybody to be careful and think before they throw away that cigarette but or crisp bag. "If everybody did a little bit like tidying outside their own house it would make a great difference within the county." He congratulated all associated with the awards which he said were a great idea. It was great to see the two towns coming together in this way. Ms Martina Brennan of the Ballina Street Festival said it was with great pleasure that she accepted the award on behalf of the Ballina committee. She thanked the TSB, the Connaught Telegraph and the Western People for having the imagination and foresight to create the awards. She said the cash award came at an opportune time as they were over budget this year. She congratulated the Castlebar committee and reminded those present to support the Ballina street Festival in July. Mr. Joe Butler, chairman Castlebar Tidy Towns thanked all concerned with the awards which were very much appreciated. "It is recognition of the people who have helped us out through our campaign, not just in the litter aspect but in the whole environment area. "It is a recognition of the work we have done and all the various groups that have helped us, the residents groups, the schools the businesses, individuals who have come out in our clean ups as well as making people aware of the litter problem we have and of their environment." The prize money, he said, would go back into the community through the many environmental projects they have in operation in Castlebar. He thanked all associated with the awards and expressed the wish that they would continue for many more years to come.
|
