Council Nominates Terryglass & Upperchurch for Prestigious Pride of Place Awards

The Pride of Place Competition for 2010 is currently underway with North Tipperary County Council nominating two areas for the all-island competition this year. Upperchurch-Drombane and District Development Association and the Terryglass Arts Festival are the two entries for North Tipperary this year and their efforts in trying to achieve a prestigious Pride of Place award are fully supported by North Tipperary County Council. Upperchurch have been nominated in the Population Category of 1,000 – 2,000 people and Terryglass are nominated in the Community Arts Initiative Category.

Pride of Place is an all-island competition, which was first piloted in the summer of 2003 and is directed towards recognising the improvements of local communities to create civic pride in their area. The competition encourages people to come together to enjoy all that is good about their area as well as change or improve certain aspects of their community. It differs from other similar projects in that they specifically recognise the involvement of the local community in all aspects of rural and urban regeneration including, promoting social cohesion, involvement in planning, the promotion of heritage and environmental awareness.

Upperchurch-Drombane and District Development Association

Upperchurch-Drombane is a dispersed rural parish of 120 sq km’s in the scenic foothills to the east of the Slieve Felim area in North Tipperary comprising of three villages: Upperchurch; Drombane; and Milestone. The Upperchurch-Drombane & District Development Association was founded in 1991 and since its inception it has been involved in many projects aimed at improving the quality of life of its residents with particular emphasis on the elderly and youth of the area. Projects of note include: Community Homes for the Elderly; Uplands IT Centre; Rural Transport Scheme; installation of several ‘National Looped Walks’; Walking Festival Weekend; Water/Sewerage Scheme; FAS/RSS employment projects; Tidy Towns; and installation of scenic viewing points. Their most recent project has been the completion of a modern crèche facility in Upperchurch village for up to 70 children which involved almost ten years of dedicated work from initial planning to the official opening.

Terryglass Arts Festival

In 1999, North Tipperary County Council Arts Office issued a request for a committee in North Tipperary to develop a festival which would be supported and grant funded by the Co. Council, and they were delighted when members of the Terryglass community came to them and said “we’re here to run a festival.” Little did they know how much they would grow and that the festival would be such a huge success year on year. The Terryglass Arts Festival is a multi disciplinary festival that celebrates and promotes the artistic creativity of all cultures, serving as the foundation of year
round community efforts to nurture participation in the arts. They encourage the organic evolvement and growth of the festival and aspire to make a significant investment in the future of the community. The festival takes place annually in August in the village of Terryglass located on the shores of Lough Derg and the programme includes visual arts, dance, theatre, music, poetry, film and storytelling.

Táimid an-bhródúil as ucht an obair go léir atá ar siúl ag grúpaí mar seo. Dúirt an Contae Bainisteoir, Matt Shorrt, go dtugann grúpaí mar seo dea-shampla don phobal den mhéid gur féidir a bhaint amach nuair a oibríonn daoine le chéile.
Both communities are currently preparing for the visit of judges Mr. Blaise Treacy & Mr. Cathal Logue to their areas on the 28th of June. The judges will spend two and a half hours in both areas meeting with the community representatives who will be looking to impress them with the hope of achieving a Pride of Place award in their category when the competition culminates at a Gala Awards Ceremony in November in Co. Meath.

While Pride of Place is a relatively new competition, it has been remarkably successful. The competition, which receives over 90 entries each year, is hosted by Co-operation Ireland under its Local Authority Programme in conjunction with the allisland Local Authority Steering Forum comprising officials from authorities in both parts of the island of Ireland.
If any group in North Tipperary is interested in show-casing their achievements and community activities in the Pride of Place Competition in future years they should contact Áine Mc Carthy, Liaison Officer, North Tipperary County Council, Telephone: (067) 44554, e-mail amccarthy@northtippcoco.ie