Fore receives runner-up honour in All-Ireland Pride of Place
The journey to Killarney on Monday of last week proved worthwhile for the Fore Heritage and Amenity Group when it received a runner-up award at the all-Ireland Pride of Place community awards.
There was disappointment, however, for Ballymore Village, which was nominated in the Population 300-1000 category but missed out.
The Fore group was runner-up in the Community Tourism Initiative category, losing out to Sligo Folk Park on the night. The awards, hosted by Marty Whelan of RTÉ, took place in Kerry’s INEC centre with 400 community volunteers in attendance.
The judges said they were impressed by “the commitment, dedication, hard work, resilience and determination to make Fore a very special place which will inspire people to love their lives and to provide a space to restore their physical, mental, and creative health”.
“It is an exemplary project with key elements which could be applied in many other locations and communities. The judges were particularly struck by the inclusiveness of the group and the participation of younger people in their efforts.”
There was delight among the Fore representatives: “It is brilliant that Fore has picked up another award,” said Una D’Arcy, of the Fore group.
“This is our fourth national award and our third national Pride of Place win. This might suggest that these are everyday wins but they really are not, they are fiercely competitive and hard won.
Ms D’Arcy said the award recognises the significant work undertaken by volunteers. They had worked hard, she said, to secure hundreds of thousands of euro in funding to develop the area both for locals and visitors; they had established relationships over the years with stakeholders including the Westmeath County Council, Fáilte Ireland, Inland Waterways and the OPW. “The award also recognises the unique community in this area of Westmeath and the extraordinary efforts they make to create a wonderful place to live.
“As part of the work I undertook to create the presentation for the judges, we interviewed as many people in the area as possible. It was only once we had spoken to everyone that we decided what would be brought forward into the judging panel. One of the comments that stood out for me was a group of friends who walked every day. They told us that during Covid, that the looped walk ‘saved them’ that the peace and the beauty and the meeting people in a safe space was a fixed point for them in a chaotic and frightening time.
“We also focused on the family businesses in the centre of Fore that were all run by women and the strength of character and culture and absolute font of information that Jane, Ita, Rosemary, Beasie, Roisin and Sarita brought to the mix.
“We also had two epic young champions of rural Ireland in Orla Fox, a young female farmer who spoke about caring for animals on farms, the role of the farmer in tourism and in biodiversity, and Patrick D’Arcy, who is on the national Foróige Panel who spoke about the biodiversity action plan in place around our streams and what a remote rural village like Fore has to offer.”
Ms D’Arcy continued by remarking that normally the judges would come into the community and meet everyone, so the committee’s task was to bring everyone to the judges in the presentation. “Massive thanks to Annette Barr Jordan, Margaret Egan and Anne Marie Nash, who selected us to compete and supported us getting ready for the judges,” she concluded.