DURRUS village was judged as part of the Pride of Place competition. The All-Ireland initiative acknowledges the work that communities are doing all over the island.
The competition focus is on people coming together to shape, change and improve daily lives in their communities. Since the competition commenced in 2003, it has impacted on hundreds of thousands of people, all of whom are proud of their place. The competition is based on communities demonstrating directly to the judges their pride in their place by oral presentations where they highlight community activities, culture and many other aspects that contribute to their pride of place. It is also important that the community demonstrates a real partnership with their local authority and shows that all sectors of the community are included. There are ten categories in the competition. Each county council can submit a single nomination in each of five categories.
The local Community Council discovered at the end of April that Durrus had been nominated by Cllr Caroline Cronin to represent Co Cork at national level in the large village category, where the population is between 300 and 1,000 people.
This led to an enormous amount of planning to prepare the presentation. Shaun Taylor and Robert Shannon took the lead in driving the project. At this point, it would be appropriate to acknowledge the help received from Aileen Walsh of Cork County Council and Martina Casey from previous prize winners, Rylane Community Park Association. A full house was in attendance on a beautiful sunny morning at 9am at the Philips Green Centre. Shaun Taylor, chairperson of Durrus and District Community Council, got proceedings underway.
He welcomed the judges, Tom Dowling and Terry Ó Niadh and Cllrs Caroline Cronin and Danny Collins. TDs Christopher O’Sullivan and Michael Collins and Senator Tim Lombard were also in attendance. Cllr Collins deputised for the county mayor Joe Carroll. He addressed the group, expressing his pride in all that had been achieved in the area. The judgement process then began with a 30-minute presentation on all aspects of life in the village and its environs.
This included drone film footage and a power point presentation with slides and commentary. Helen Burke did the introduction, John Tobin spoke on the history and development of the area, Robert Shannon dealt with foundation and progress, Joe O’Driscoll highlighted the role of volunteers in the community, Joe Starett spoke on caring for the community and this was followed by Carmel Reaney who spoke on caring for the environment.
Katherine O’Sullivan dealt with sport and recreation to conclude this part of the proceedings. The judges then complimented the pride of place committee on the quality of their presentation.
The next part of the judging process was a visit to the Community Hall to view an amazing display by the local businesses, the social and community groups and the schools.
This was followed by a bus trip to various places of interest in the surrounding area and included the unveiling of a mural at the Old Forge by Cllr Danny Collins.
The morning concluded with a walk around the village, including a visit to the charity shop.
The judges and dignitaries then returned to Philip’s Green through the Sensory Garden where a commemorative tree was planted by the judges, to mark the occasion.
The morning concluded with a visit to the Wednesday market and a welcome cup of tea at the Drop-In. The results will be announced at the National Awards ceremony, which will take place in Monaghan on November 2nd.
