Belmullet crowned Mayo's most enterprising town
BELMULLET has been crowned Mayo’s most enterprising town at an awards ceremony held in the Abbey Hotel, Roscommon.
The Bank of Ireland Enterprising Town Awards have been organised in collaboration with four county councils and their economic teams in Roscommon, Mayo, Laois and Kildare to celebrate enterprise by bringing businesses and community groups together to showcase the spirit of enterprise in their town.
The judging panel met with businesses, community and public sector groups in each of the participating towns in Mayo to learn more about what was being done to promote enterprise within the towns. Following this engagement, Belmullet was last night chosen as the overall county winner and will receive a prize of €3,000 and a trophy.
There was additional success for Mayo at the awards with Charlestown Town Team being given a merit award and funding (€1,000) to support the development of a John Healy project. Charlestown was one of six other towns selected from across the four counties for these special merit awards. The judges found Charlestown a to be a great example of businesses, community, county council and other agencies all working together with a collective focus on the betterment of the town. The judges cited the town’s respect for the history of the area and its proximity to Knock airport as great assets.
The other county winners were Boyle (Roscommon), Naas (Kildare) and Portarlington (Laois), with Boyle named the overall winner. Merit awards were also won by Castlerea (Roscommon), Kildare and Athy (Kildare), and Mountrath and Rathdowney (Laois).
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Liam McLoughlin, the chief executive of retail banking at Bank of Ireland, said: “As Ireland’s enterprise bank, we are delighted to award Belmullet €3,000 to acknowledge their dedication to local enterprise. We know that SMEs, start-ups and community organisations are a major driver of the success and sustainability of every county. These awards shine a light on this and will profile towns, businesses and community groups who collaborate on driving innovation and partnership.”