Fingal County Council to be represented by three groups in the 2022 Pride of Place Competition

Judging in the 2022 IPB Pride of Place Competition in Fingal takes place next week on Tuesday and Wednesday September 13 and 14, with three groups ready to represent the county in the annual north-south competition which showcases the best examples of community development on the island of Ireland.

Balbriggan Men’s Shed, Oldtown Community Council and the Mountview Community and Youth Centre in Dublin 15 will represent the Council in three different categories when the judging team arrives in Fingal next week.

Now in its 20th year, the competition, organised by Co-operation Ireland, is part of a drive to foster better community relations on the island of Ireland. Pride of place invites local authorities in Ireland, north and south to nominate the groups and communities which make a difference in making communities places to be proud of.

Fingal County Council has an excellent record in this competition, having picked up the Local Authority of the Year Award in 2017 and having had over 20 winning community groups over the last two decades. Earlier this year Bayside Community Association won the outright award for Best Urban Neighbourhood in the 2021 competition and Rush tidy towns picked up best runner up in the populations over 5000 categories.

This year, Balbriggan Men’s Shed will compete in a new category which highlights the best in Community Wellbeing, while Mountview Community & Youth Centre will fly the flag for the Dublin 15 community of Mountview in the Urban Neighbourhoods category. Last, but by no means least, Oldtown Community Council will represent this North County Fingal village in the category for populations between 300 and 1000 persons.

The finals will be held in early 2023 at a location to be confirmed in Dublin City. This is the first year since 2019 that judging has not been carried out virtually, due to the pandemic, and next year’s 2023  competition will take place in its entirety during the calendar year, also for the first time since 2019.

Speaking ahead of the judging, Mayor of Fingal Cllr Howard Mahony said, “I want to wish the three Fingal groups taking part in Pride of Place the very best of luck and hope to see them follow on in the strong tradition of doing Fingal and the Council proud in this competition which recognises the huge importance of the community and voluntary sector in the life of the county”.

Chief Executive of FCC AnnMarie Farrelly added; “the great work of our voluntary groups, and the strong support they get from our Community Development Office is crucial to the community wellbeing of the county and I sincerely want to wish all three groups great success in the competition. “ 

For more information on Pride of Place you can contact the Council’s liaison officer, Rafe Costigan at 087-2203944 or at [email protected]