Mayo County Council and Ballina Town Council were both awarded at the Chambers Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards, organised in partnership with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.
The awards, which were held in Dublin recently, highlight the dedication of local authorities and their staff across Ireland to support the ongoing development of the communities they serve.
This year Mayo County Council and Ballina Town Council had three projects shortlisted for awards and were delighted when two projects were overall winners in their categories.
Mayo County Council’s winning project was the Mayo Science and Technology Festival, which won the overall prize in the County/City Development Board of the Year category.
Ballina Town Council’s winning project was Ireland’s Memory: The Jackie Clarke Collection, which won the overall prize in the Supporting Tourism category.
The Jackie Clarke Collection — a private Irish historical collection made up of more than 100,000 items spanning 400 years of Irish history — was donated by Mrs Anne Clarke, fulfilling the wishes of her late husband Jackie Clarke.
“I’m very proud as cathaoirleach to be part of a local authority system which has won these two very significant national awards,” said cathaoirleach of the county council, Councillor Michael Burke. The county manager Peter Hynes commented, “The awards are a great tribute to the staff and members of the Mayo local authorities and their commitment to their local communities.”
