The Mayor of Clare Tom McNamara has congratulated the villages of Cooraclare and Cree on winning a ‘Special Award’ at the annual IPB Pride of Place Award Ceremony held in Letterkenny, County Donegal, at the weekend.
Cooraclare and Cree were nominated in Category 8 (Communities Reaching Out Initiative) of this year’s competition by Malin Kelly, Coordinator, Health & Wellbeing Officer for CLG Cuar an Chláir.
Having being selected by Clare County Council’s Rural Development Directorate to represent Clare alongside An Garda Síochána’s “Clare Teenage Disco” initiative, CLG Cuar an Chláir’s Health & Wellbeing Team hosted Pride of Place judges during July.
Mayor McNamara said, “This award success is thoroughly deserved as the willing volunteers from CLG Cuar an Chláir’s Health & Wellbeing Team have given freely of their time and energy to reach out to engage with locals to ensure inclusion. The award alsoupholds Clare’s longstanding record of success in the competition.”
Leonard Cleary, Acting Director of Rural Development, commented, “In an era of increasing rural isolation, communities such as Cooraclare and Cree benefit greatly from the work of local voluntary groups such as CLG Cuar an Chláir’s Health & Wellbeing Team. This award should be seen as a vote of confidence in the group’s work and I would hope that it will inspire them to achieve even greater things in the future.”
For more on this year’s IPB Pride of Place Awards visit www.prideofplace.cooperationireland.org.