County Mayor column: Events across the county put us all in a great festive mood

THE festive spirit has really taken off in the council recently.

Cork County Council chief Valerie O’Sullivan and I had the pleasure of welcoming pupils from St Patrick’s, Grange, Curraghagalla and Ballindangan National School this week to switch on the Christmas Tree lights at County Hall.

Meeting all the school children and welcoming their cheerful faces to the council filled me with joy. It has put me in a great mood for Christmas this year.

I am extremely excited to announce that a second collaboration with social enterprise ‘Education for Sustainability’ is bringing an eight-week climate literacy course to eight additional schools in the county. It is wonderful to see schools in the county taking part in such worthwhile initiatives to promote climate literacy among students, empowering them to become informed and active participants in building a sustainable future.

The 2023 Gala Screening Event for Cork Young Filmmakers was recently held at County Hall. I am truly inspired by the immense talent and creativity displayed by Cork’s young filmmakers.

The outstanding support provided by the Cork Film Centre, and the various organisations involved, is to be commended. I was treated to some outstanding expressions of creativity on the day.

I also had the pleasure to welcome members of the Munster rugby team to County Hall for a civic reception to honour their triumph in the United Rugby Championship this year. It is accomplishments like these that inspire our young athletes, showing them that with hard work, determination, and teamwork, they can achieve their dreams.

They represent the absolute best of Munster, both on and off the field. Rugby has always been a sport that is close to my heart, and I have cheered on the Munster players to some great victories over the years and this year’s achievement is one of the biggest I have witnessed.

Community Climate Action Programme

On another note, I would like to call on the people of Cork to make an application to the Community Climate Action Programme which recently launched.

This programme is designed to target funding for community groups through a competitive application process and deliver community climate action. Climate action is a key strategic priority for Cork County Council, and the launch of the Community Climate Action Programme (CCAP) is an important and positive step in delivering our key objectives. In combination with the recent publication of our draft Climate Action Plan 2024-2029, the CCAP signifies a strong example of Cork County Council’s commitment to supporting community climate action and enabling our transition to a low carbon and climate resilient county.

It was my pleasure to recently attend and speak at the Best in Cork Awards for North Cork where sustainability was at the forefront of events. The independent panel of judges had a difficult job to do, such was the high quality of the entries that were received from businesses right across North Cork.

I would also like to wish the winners of the Best in Cork South and Best in Cork West awards the absolute best of luck as they go forward to represent their respective areas in the overall awards in January. Well done to all the entrants and big congratulations to all the winners!

Finally, I would like to extend my congratulations to award-winning Poet Victoria Kennefick on her recent appointment as writer in residence from 2024. We are delighted to be collaborating with a writer of Victoria’s calibre. Her experience and enthusiasm for writing in all its forms will lend itself to successful residency. This is a fantastic opportunity for aspiring writers and readers in the county to engage with a published writer.

With this residency, we aim to promote creative writing and reading contemporary literature in the community. We look forward to seeing the outcomes of this residency.