Community groups recognised at Athlone Croí na hÉireann Festival Awards
Community groups and organisations were duly recognised at the recent Athlone Croí na hÉireann awards evening which took place in the Sheraton Hotel.
Over 250 people representing sporting organisations and community/voluntary groups from Athlone were present at the annual awards evening in reflection of the five day annual Croí na hÉireann Festival.
Both Athlone Comhaltas and Athlone Feile na Sionainne groups provided excellent music, song and dance during the evening, with fantastic displays from Athlone Karate Club and Wings Gymnastics Group.
Chairperson of the Festival committee, John Henson, welcomed guest speakers MEP Maria Walsh and OPW Minister Kevin 'Boxer' Moran to the event both of whom addressed the gathering and spoke highly of the enormous behind the scenes volunteer work involved in organising a festival. Also in attendance were Cllrs Paul Hogan, Aengus O’Rourke and John Dolan.
The chairperson thanked his festival committee for all the voluntary work which they carried out over the last number of months.
John also noted that he and Athlone Mayor Cllr Frankie Keena recently received a very warm welcome in Brussels from Maria Walsh where she committed to try and identify EU community funding streams for groups like the Athlone Festival & Events Group.
"We are delighted to have made this connection with MEP Maria Walsh and we look forward to linking with her further into the future," Mr Henson said.
The Grand Marshall for this year’s parade Mark Finlay, representing the Athlone Order of Malta, received an award from John for the ongoing work the organisation does throughout the community.
A wide range of various category awards were announced by John Henson with presentations made by the invited guests. MEP Maria Walsh presented the overall parade trophy award to Garrycastle GAA Club and as she is a Mayo woman, she remarked about similar red and green colours.
Cllr Keena, who also serves the role of Festival committee treasurer, stated the importance of acknowledging the "massive efforts" put in by all the participating groups who make the festival a major success.
"This is also a collective public way of thanking businesses such as Arcadia Retail Park, Athlone Castlerea Credit Union, Athlone Extrusions, Fernhill, Clavin Transport, TUS, Athlone Regional Sports Centre, FAI, Sheraton Hotel, Athlone Town Centre Shopping Centre, HB Safety Services, Ganly’s Hardware, Spice India and Westmeath County Council for all their support and generous sponsorship," Cllr Keena said.