Wexford Scoops Award at the Annual Excellence in Local Government Awards

Wexford County Council won the ‘Supporting Active Communities’ Award at the Annual Excellence in Local Government Awards held in association with the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government. The awards, which have been running since 2004, recognise best practice in Local Government. The event was held on Thursday 13th November.

Speaking about the event Madeleine Quirke, CEO of Wexford Chamber, said “I am delighted that Wexford County Council has again scooped an award at this prestigious event. It is wonderful to see Wexford County Council receiving national recognition for some of the wonderful projects undertaken by various departments during the year. Congratulations to everybody involved.”

Ian Talbot, Chambers Ireland Chief Executive said, “While 2014 has been a year of hugely challenging change and transformation for local government, Local Authorities have embraced this opportunity to innovate and develop new approaches to sustaining and supporting their communities. It is an honour for us to host these awards and recognise the hard work that goes on at the heart of our communities on a daily basis. I want to congratulate not just the winners and shortlisted organisations but just as importantly, the people who made all these projects and activities happen.”

In presenting the awards, Alan Kelly T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government commented “These awards offer a great opportunity to showcase and reward the excellent work being carried out by Local Authorities across the country. The quality of the projects and the dedication of those involved continue to grow year on year and I am delighted that my Department continues to support these awards.”

There were eleven awards handed out on the night plus the overall award for Local Authority of the Year which went to Limerick County Council. Individual awards were sponsored by: AECOM; AIB; An Post; CBRE; EirGrid; ESB Networks; the European Recycling Platform; Fáilte Ireland; Healthy Ireland (Department of Health); and Zurich. Winners were presented with a specially commissioned trophy designed by Tipperary Crystal.

The full list of winners is as follows:

Supporting Active Communities sponsored by EirGrid
• Wexford County Council – On Our Own Ground: Wexford’s Treasures, Parish by Parish

Joint Local Authority Initiative sponsored by Zurich
• Fingal County Council – National Building Control Management System (BCMS)

Smarter Travel sponsored by AECOM
• Limerick City and County Council – Limerick Smarter Travel

Supporting Tourism sponsored by Fáilte Ireland
• Galway County Council – STONE WALL WORKSHOP – Féile na gCloch, Inis Oírr

Best Library Service sponsored by CBRE
• Mayo County Council – Mayo Musical Instrument Lending Scheme

Best Practice in Citizen Engagement sponsored by ESB
• Waterford County Council – Waterford County Comhairle na nÓg

Supporting the Local Economy sponsored by EirGrid
• Cork County Council – ‘Taste Cork’ Regional Food Marketing Initiative

Health & Wellbeing sponsored by Healthy Ireland
• Cork City Council – Functional Zone @ LeisureWorld

Sustainable Environment sponsored by the European Recycling Platform
• Cavan County Council – Citizen Engagement Strategy for the Domestic Wastewater Assessments (DWWA)

Local Authority Innovations sponsored by AIB
• Limerick City and County Council – Creating a new agile public governance model through the merger of Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council

Sustaining the Arts sponsored by An Post
• Dún Laoghaire Rathdown County Council – Musical Memories

Local Authority of the Year sponsored by AECOM
• Limerick City and County Council

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