Roscrea Enhancement Awards 2016
The presentation of the much anticipated 2016 Roscrea Enhancement Awards took place over the last number of weeks.
In a change to last year’s awards ceremony, this year, members of the Enhancement Committee travelled to each of the award recipients to present their individual awards.
Chairman of the Enhancement Committee Brian King congratulated all the winners and in particular he acknowledged the overall winner Ard Ross. Brian said that before any arrangements were made for the awards this year, numerous people were contacted including all the sponsors, prospective participants, the local authority, etc, to see would they support the new format. The overwhelming majority supported the new format with great enthusiasm and what ensued over the past few weeks was the opportunity for Enhancement Committee members, sponsors and supporters to gather across the community for a series of awards which proved to be a great success. Brian said that he and those that accompanied him were delighted in particular with the warm welcome they received and with the enthusiasm that each winner has for not just themselves but for the future of the town of Roscrea.
Brian said that the awards would not be possible without the support of local sponsors and in that regard he was keen to thank his own employers Roscrea Credit Union and its Chairman Sean Hogan, Super Valu Roscrea and it’s proprietors Brian and Bernie Colclough, Roscrea Chamber Of Commerce and it’s President Seamus Browne, Tesco Roscrea and Monica Kerins, Milltown Garden Centre and Paul Davy, Roscrea Tidy Towns and its committee members and Chairman Denis Ryan and Tipperary County Council.
The overall winner of the 2016 Roscrea Enhancement Awards was Ard Ross who deserve great credit and great praise for their endeavours over the past year in particular. Brian King said that Caroline Creamer and her committee had achieved so much this year in such a short period of time. This he said made them very worthy winners. Caroline Creamer said that herself and the residents of Ard Ross were delighted with their award. Caroline said that been able to receive the award on the very site of their best project this year will make the memory of getting the award even extra special. On behalf of Ard Ross, Caroline thanked the Enhancement Committee and the sponsor of the overall prize, Roscrea Credit Union, for their support. The Chairman of Roscrea Credit Union and also a member of the Enhancement Committee, Sean Hogan, said that the Credit Union was thrilled for Ard Ross and all the award recipients. Sean praised the Enhancement Committee and said he was fully supportive of visiting the award winners this year. Sean said that knowing Brian so well as Manager of the Credit Union his decisions or ideas are not made without a lot of taught and consideration and that the evening and morning spent presenting the awards was certainly a vindication of that decision.
This week Trudi O’Leary, the Proprietor of Roscrea Travel, said that both herself and her staff were thrilled to receive the Roscrea Enhancement Award for the best-presented premises. Trudi said it was a wonderful opportunity to meet members of the Enhancement Committee and members of the sponsors of the award, Roscrea Chamber of Commerce, and show them around the recently purchased and refurbished building. Chamber President Seamus Browne congratulated Trudi and said it was a great idea this year to go out and meet the individual winners. Seamus thanked Brian King for reporting each month to the Chamber on how the Enhancement Plan is progressing. Seamus said that he had no doubt that nobody gets more frustrated than Brian in terms of progressing the plan at a faster pace but that Brian controls this emotion well and that he like Brian King knows these things, unfortunately, take time and that a fierce volume of work is going on in the background to try and ensure Roscrea will capitalise on funding over the coming years to help deliver upon the many objectives outlined in the plan. Seamus said that both he and Brian often make the argument at Chamber meetings that it is vital for future investment in the town that we deal with the challenges presented in-house as best we can while projecting the town publically in the best possible light for future investment.
The “Most Innovative Project Award” this year was presented to Ashbury Residents Association. The project focused upon a 1916 bench and garden which was officially launched in late November. Tommy Murphy thanked Brian and the Enhancement Committee for all their support and encouragement. Mary McNamara, who Brian King congratulated on the double as Mary has recently written her first book of poems, thanked the awards committee and thanked the sponsor Brian Colclough and Super Valu Roscrea for all their support. Brian Colclough said that what appealed to Super Valu most this year with the awards was the opportunity to get out into the community and visit proactive estates such as Ashbury. Brian said this is what companies need in terms of their sponsorship arrangements and the new format should be welcomed as it really does provide a great opportunity for sponsors to go out to the community and engage with people who love to talk about all the great work they are doing and be able to demonstrate that work to the sponsors rather than just talk about it.
The “Best Green Area in a Estate Award” was presented to last year’s overall winner of the Enhancement Award, Gleann Glas. James Byrne accepted the prize on behalf of the committee. James said it was a great honour for the estate to be amongst the prize winners once again this year. James said that he had spoken to Brian king in advance of this year’s awards and really felt that the whole process was more engaging that the formal set up of the previous year. James who took the opportunity to give members of the Enhancement Committee a tour Teach Na Gréine said that this is an example of the opportunity presented by the new format, for estates to really demonstrate to the wider community the great work that they do which might not necessarily be widely known. Brian king said that he couldn’t agree more with James and he congratulated Gleann Glas on all their achievements to date. Brian said that Gleann Glas were wonderful ambassadors as the first overall prize winners of the award. Brian thanked Paul Davy from Milltown Garden Centre for sponsoring the award. Unfortunately, Paul could not be present on the day but he asked the Chairman of the committee to pass on his best regards to Gleann Glas and all this year’s participants.
The “Best Youth Development Award” went this year to Coláiste Phobal for their contribution to the 1916 garden. Michael O’Connor the Principal of the Coláiste said that the acknowledgement by the Enhancement Committee of this work was so much appreciated. Mr O’Connor said that he is very much aware of what the Enhancement Committee is trying to achieve and enjoys seeing updates on the plan which occasionally appear in the local papers. Teacher Ann Marie Mullen said that the students really enjoyed getting involved in the project. Ms Mullen said that the students are very creative and the Enhancement Award is just the icing on the cake. Billy Newman (Coláiste) thanked the Enhancement Committee and all the students for what turned out to be a wonderful project. Monica Kerins from Tesco Roscrea said that Tesco was once again delighted to support the Enhancement Committee Awards this year. Monica said that Tesco do what they can to support the local community and this is evidenced by all the support that they have provided to local clubs and organisations down through the years.
The most “Valuable Voluntary Contribution” this year went to Roscrea Men's Shed. Brian King said that the Men's Shed was very deserving of the prize in recognition of the great work they do in Roscrea on a daily basis. Neil Guerin the Chairman of the Men's Shed thanked Brian and the Enhancement Committee for their award and thanked the sponsors of the award Roscrea Tidy Towns for their support. Denis Ryan the Chairman of Roscrea Tidy Towns said that the men's shed now contribute very significantly each year to the overall work plan of the Tidy Towns. Denis said that this support is greatly appreciated and he wished the Enhancement Committee and the Men's Shed every success for the future.
Two new awards this year included the “Best Building Renovation Award” which was sponsored by Tipperary County Council and was won by the Villa Marie Nursing Home. The “Best Presented Business On An Approach Road” was presented to St Cronan’s and again was sponsored by Tipperary County Council. The Enhancement Committee would like to thank the General Manager of St Cronan’s Patsy King for the warm and enthusiastic welcome that greeted the Enhancement Committee upon their arrival. The clients made a massive effort to greet their visitors and were ever so gracious and proud to receive their award. Brian King said that St Cronan’s Centre plays a massive role in the social fabric of Roscrea. Brian spoke about all the great projects St Cronan’s immersed themselves in over the years and the great support that they give to Special Olympics and events like the recent celebration for Jo Jo Cunningham. Patsy King the General Manager of St Cronan’s said that the Enhancement Committee could not overestimate what the award means to St Cronan’s. Mrs King said that recognition means a lot to the clients of St Cronan’s and that that they were all ever so grateful for the award. Patsy king said that the Enhancement Committee were doing great work, a lot of it behind the scenes and with time and patience she had no doubt that Roscrea would enjoy the fruits of that labour.
Commenting on the awards Brian king said a big thank you again to all the sponsors and all those that entered this year’s competition. Next year he said he would encourage the committee to consider an even simpler way for community groups to engage with the awards. Brian said it’s nice to do something different. Brian said that the last thing he or his committee would like to do is take away in any shape or form from established awards such as the excellent “Roscrea People Of The Year Awards”. That is why he said we have to make the Enhancement Awards something different and something individual. From what was said at the presentation of the awards and since the awards were presented would suggest that we went a long way towards achieving that this year. In that regard, Brian said he couldn’t thank Marion Carey or Cllr Michael Smith enough. Brian king said that both Marion and Michael care very deeply about Roscrea and the Enhancement Plan and that the great work and support they give to helping with the organisation of the Enhancement Awards deserves to be recognised as does the effort of all the Roscrea Enhancement Committee members.
With regard to the Enhancement Plan itself, Brian said that he would love to accelerate the development of the plan and like many other groups in Roscrea the Enhancement Committee is shouting as loud as it can to ensure Roscrea is prioritised for development. The signage strategy for Roscrea has taken up considerable time this year. Numerous workshops and consultations took place and it is expected to have a plan in place in early 2017. The challenge then like all plans will be it’s implementation. At least once a plan is in place work on sourcing funding can commence. A plan for Gantly Road is also in development but again once the plan is in place the challenge will be sourcing funding for it’s implementation. Brian said it was great earlier in the summer to get so many people to attend a consultation evening and discuss their ideas for the area. The Enhancement Committee is also communicating with the Community Action Plan Committee to come up with some alternatives for the toilet area in the main town car park. Brian said that work also continues on plans for Castle Street and in particular the castle setting and he also said that a company was recently engaged to look at the Enhancement Plan concept for Market Square and formally survey the area with a view to exploring various possibilities.
In conclusion, Cllr Michael Smith said that of course, it’s frustrating that we can’t deliver on the Enchancement Plan all at once. Cllr Smith said that a lot of work, however, goes on in the background to help ensure progress. Cllr Smith said he would like to acknowledge the voluntary effort of all those involved in the committee and said that he hoped to see many of the exciting projects outlined by Brian King coming to fruition over the next year.