County Mayor: Storm Babet should prompt reflections on climate change

IN what has been a busy two weeks, I find myself reflecting on the devastating effects that Storm Babet has had around the county.

My thoughts go out to everyone who has been affected by the storm, especially those in Midleton, whose homes and businesses have been damaged beyond recognition. I would like to commend and thank all of the community for coming together and offering support where they could. As a council, we will continue to work across the county, both in a preventative capacity, while also dealing with issues as they arise.

This week, I would like to talk about some great initiatives from our environment and library departments. The ‘Make One Change’ campaign has launched for November. This campaign encourages the people of Cork to think about climate change and to make small, practical changes to their lifestyles in support of climate action. There are several talks organised in libraries all over the county, during ‘Cork County Cuts Carbon’ month, so we can all learn more about how we can support the cause.

We are also proud to support the composting for schools programme, which is another environmental initiative. I would like to offer huge congratulations to all of the 10 schools that took part. This programme was set up to help students learn about composting and gardening using a variety of fun, interactive activities to create a better understanding of the principles of ecology and biodiversity that underpin all life on our planet.

Our libraries and arts department have also been busy in the last couple of weeks. The ‘Hallow-zine’ event was a great success. Writer Kel Menton and artist Annie Forrester led the course, giving participants the skills to develop their own zines. Hallow-zine is part of the council’s wider Rainbow Writers and Illustrators programme for LGBTQIA+ young adults. There is also one last chance to catch this event on the November 3.

Continuing with libraries and arts, the ‘Emotion’ exhibition is running this month until November 24 in our library headquarters. Ciara is an award-winning artist working in digital illustration and digital print making, as well as mixed-media pieces such as embroidered and origami artworks. Don’t miss out on this wonderful exhibition.

I was happy to launch a new initiative, called ‘Art’s and Chats’, that will offer people dealing with social isolation the chance to discover new hobbies and meet new people. It is important to us, in a county of this size with a large rural area, to maintain a close-knit sense of community. Creativity has many mental health benefits. Please visit our website news section or email arts.corkcoco.ie for more information on this great initiative.

On another note, we were proud to recently celebrate another year of National Women’s Enterprise Day in Dunmore House Clonakilty. Now in its 17th year, National Women’s Enterprise Day addresses real-life issues affecting women in business, recognising that while daily business operations are crucial for success, so too is a healthy work life balance, family, and mental wellbeing. There was a great turnout this year, with more than 200 women attending and enjoying talks from a number of entrepreneurs.

Finally, I had the opportunity this week to attend and speak the Kaleici Festival in Antalya, Turkey. The festival aims to bring together ancient cities around the world to raise awareness of history and culture. During my address to an international panel of leaders from 100 cities across three continents, I spoke about Cork’s rich history of events and festivals which attracted people from all over the world to our shores. I highlighted key events such as Guinness Cork Jazz Festival, the St Patrick’s Day Festival, Cork Pride, Fastnet Film Festival, Cork Choral Festival, Cork Week and West Cork Literary Festival. As always, it was my honour to speak at such an event and to promote County Cork as a destination for all.