Cathaoirleach’s Awards 2023 open for Nominations
Date: 20-10-2023
Mayo County Council are delighted to announce that entries are now being accepted for the third annual Cathaoirleach’s Awards.
The Cathaoirleach’s Awards honour and celebrate the individuals and groups that work quietly behind the scenes to make our communities stronger, more vibrant and caring, often inspiring and motivating others to become actively involved in their communities.
Since its inception the Cathaoirleach’s Awards have gone from strength to strength with over 100 individuals and groups shortlisted for last years awards and over 350 people attended the gala awards ceremony where the winners were announced.
Speaking at the launch of the awards Cathaoirleach of Mayo County Council, Cllr Michael Loftus said: “Since I was privileged to be elected to this position, the Cathaoirleach’s Awards has been something that has been firmly in my mind.
“I’ve been involved with many community organisations over the years and have seen the work and dedication they put into their local communities year in year out.
“The Cathaoirleach’s Awards offers Mayo County Council a chance to say thank you for these efforts and give due recognition for all they do.
“While there may only be one winner of each award, every single group or individual that gets nominated should take great pride in the fact that the work they are doing is being seen and appreciated by the most important people, their community.”
There are eight categories open for nomination for this year’s Cathaoirleach’s Awards, with several categories having more than one award; they are:
- Mayo Publication Awards; Two awards – (1A) Publications from Commercial Publishers and (1B) Publications from Community Groups.
- Contribution to Local Heritage and Biodiversity Awards – (2A) Contribution to Local Heritage and (2B) Contribution to Local Biodiversity and Natural Heritage.
- Contribution to Community Life Awards; Two Awards – (3A) Community Endeavour Award and (3B) Community Social Inclusion Project Award.
- Community Tourism Award.
- Environmental Awards; Three Awards – (5A) Green Community of the Year, (5B) Environmental Initiatives: Energy and or Travel and (5C) Environmental Initiatives: Circular Living Waste and or Litter.
- Contribution to the Arts in Mayo Award.
- Contribution to the Preservation and Promotion of the Irish Language Awards; Two Awards – (7A) Gaeltacht based groups/individuals award and (7b) non-Gaeltacht based groups/individuals award.
- Contribution to Diaspora Wellbeing/Engagement Award.
Chief Executive of Mayo County Council, Kevin Kelly said he was looking forward to seeing the council being able to give due recognition to the invaluable work that community groups and individuals in the county do for the local communities.
“The Cathaoirleach’s Awards are always one of the highlights of the year for us in Mayo County Council. We recognise that so much unseen work goes on in towns, villages, and townlands in every corner of this great county by local people for the betterment of their localities.
“Having this opportunity to say thank you to them for this work and honour their contributions to the fabric of life in Mayo is something that we are delighted to be able to do through these awards.
“We saw last year with the phenomenal number of nominations that we received that there are so many groups and individuals doing fantastic work in our communities and I hope that this year see even bigger number of nominations come in so those people and groups can get the recognition they deserve.”
Nominations for the awards will close on Friday, January 12th 2024 with the awards ceremony taking place in early 2024.
For more information on the awards, including nomination forms and all the terms and conditions log on to www.mayo.ie/cathaoirleachsawards2023