Pride of Place

For the last 21 years, IPB Insurance have honoured communities all over the island of Ireland with their Pride of Place awards. These awards value the hard work of communities of all sizes.

The categories available as of 2023 range across population as well as single issue themes. A separate selection is available for cities.

We’re in the midst of the judging season, and Duhallow has an incredible 3 entries in 3 unique categories - let’s meet Duhallow’s phenomenal representatives!

Categories available:

1. Population 0-500

2. Population 500-1500

3. Population 1500-4000

4. Population over 4000

5. Communities Welcoming New Communities

6. Creative Place Initiative

7. Community Wellbeing Initiative

8 Community Tourism Initiative

9 Climate Action and Biodiversity

10 Community Age Friendly Initiative

11 Housing Estates/ Residents Associations

12 Islands and Coastal Communities

13 Urban Neighbourhoods/ Villages

Banteer Community GroupsCommunity Well Being Initiative

The projects completed to date are valued at over €7million, and have created employment for 42 people, as well as placements for a variety of schemes. The extensive list of the impressive provisions throughout the community include a youth club, sports facilities, arts and music facilities, social and recreation services, a community wide defibrillator network, fishing facilities, transport, energy reduction, historical information and archives, walkway and wildlife protection along the Glen river, and restoration of heritage sites. In future projects, they aim to reduce energy consumption.

Banteer have taken home a whole host of awards already, including AIB Better Ireland, National Tidy Towns Wildlife and Endeavour awards, All Island Pride of Place award for Glen Theatre, Cork County Council Mayors award 2023 for Sportsfield development, Duhallow Business awards in 2015 and 2022, Limerick Civic Trust award, Various Litter Challenge and Tidy Towns awards, and the IRD Duhallow Community awards.

Rylane Community Park Association - Population 500 - 1500

Rylane have strived to create a community space to benefit everyone in the community and to that end, they have garnered €165,000 between grants and fundraisers. Their fundraising ideas have included weekly lottos, raffles, fun days, fun runs and walks, vintage runs, and choral events. With their efforts, they have completed phase one of their plan with a multi-sport pitch which held its first host match in May of 2022. Phase 2 will begin in late 2023, and will include a new playground. Their websiterylanecommunitypark.ie - is a fantastic documentation of their work, their fundraisers, and their progress.

Boherbue Tidy Towns - Population 0 - 500

This tidy town group have ensured Boherbue village and its approaching roads stay tidy and neat. The makeover they’ve given the town to is already impressive! The town’s centre island was redeveloped and improved, and unused buildings have been visually improved.

On top of that, they have worked on 10 gardens as well as a biodiversity garden. Sustainability is a huge focus for their future. The work they have done was showcased in a fantastic presentation to the judges, with the spotlight shared with local musicians and dancers. The newest addition to the town includes a new sign that was sponsored by Breen Construction as well as a little library. This unique addition means inspiring the community to read as well as expanding book access throughout the area.

Mayor of county Cork, Cllr. Danny Collins celebrated the nominations and showed incredible pride; “I am delighted to see five exceptional community nominations from Cork County for this year ’s Pride of Place Awards. This prestigious competition recognizes the remarkable efforts and dedication of communities across Ireland. Our nominees showcase just some of the many diverse initiatives undertaken by communities the length and breadth of the county to support well-being, age-friendliness, climate action and biodiversity.

I commend the tireless work of each of the nominated groups and wish them the best as they welcome the judges during the summer months.”

As the judging season comes to a close, communities will be waiting with bated breath to see the progress of their locality. No matter the outcome, their work is beyond appreciated and the community are endlessly inspired by their efforts.

Best of luck!