Awards

Waterford City & County Council’s Arts Office is pleased to announce that it is currently accepting entries for the Molly Keane Creative Writing Award 2020.

Annually since 1998, to celebrate this rich literary life, the Waterford Arts Office, by kind permission of the Keane family has invited entries for a previously unpublished short story to a maximum of 2000 words.

There is no entry fee, no age limit and no restriction on the subject matter.  A prize of €500 will be awarded to the winner at an event in the Molly Keane Writers Retreat, Ardmore, Co. Waterford  in June 2020.

• The closing date for receipt of entries is Monday 6^th April 2020 at 12 noon
• Full details and an entry form can be downloaded here

Waterford has been announced as a winner at this year’s All-Ireland Community & Council Awards. The ceremony, presented by IPB Insurance and LAMA, took place on Saturday the 15th February 2020 in Croke Park Stadium, Dublin.

The prestigious awards recognise and celebrate community groups and Councils working together across Ireland. They highlight the extraordinary work carried out within communities and reward unsung heroes for the phenomenal contribution they make throughout the year. With over 200 entries received, there were 24 well deserved winners crowned in the various categories.

Now in its 14th year, Waterford Council/Waterford Sports Partnership received awards under the following headings;

Best Education/Training Initiative Gold Award Winners

• Waterford Sports Partnership and TREO Port Láirge for the “Active Body, Active Mind” programme.

Best Community Health Project – Bronze Award Winners

• Waterford Sports Partnership and the FAI for the “Soccer for Girls Programme”.

Best Community Sports Club/Team -Bronze Award Winners

• Paul’s Boxing Club.

This year’s event had the highest level of competition yet, with entries from social enterprises, Councils, organisations, projects and individuals working within communities across Ireland. Entrants were required to provide information on the projects submitted, the people involved and their achievements over the past year.

Commenting on this year’s awards, Youth Sports Development Officer Brian O’Neill said, “Even to be shortlisted for these prestigious awards is an achievement, but to come away with a Gold Award and two Bronze Awards is fantastic.  It’s great for Waterford to be recognized for the work Waterford City and County Council, Waterford Sports Partnership and local club volunteers do, particularly TREO Port Láirge, the FAI and St. Paul’s Boxing Club.”

For more information on the All-Ireland Community & Council Awards, please see https://lamaawards.org/

Pictured above are Peter Jones and Mayor John Pratt of Active Body Active Mind, Waterford City & County Council, winner of Best Education Training Initiative, Cllr. Michael Anglim, Chairperson of LAMA, Brian O’Neill of Waterford City & County Council and Brian Lawlor, South Dublin County Council at the 2020 All Ireland Community and Council Awards presented by IPB Insurance and LAMA at Croke Park Stadium.

Photographer – Paul Sherwood paul@sherwood.ie

Three clubs have had their pitches shortlisted for the 2019 SSE Airtricity League Pitch of the Year.

Drogheda United, Shamrock Rovers and Waterford FC have seen their respective pitches nominated, with the winner being announced later this month.

2019 SSE Airtricity League Pitch of the Year Shortlist

• United Park – Drogheda United
• Tallaght Stadium – Shamrock Rovers
• RSC  – Waterford FC

FAI Pitch Consultant Richard Hayden (Hayden Turfcare) will visit each ground in the coming days before the overall winner is announced.

The FAI’s Head of Facility Development Walter Holleran said the shortlist shows the quality of pitches in the Premier and First Divisions over the 2019 season.

“I wish to congratulate all three venues and their staff for the work on preparing and maintaining their venues to a very good standard.

“The standard of pitches within the SSE Airtricity Leagues are constantly improving and the shortlisted group are very much to the top in terms of pitch quality.

“The FAI will continue to host the Natural Turf Maintenance training days to ensure all clubs have the latest educational and market knowledge to bring their respective pitches to the next level.”

The 2019 winners will take the crown from Longford Town, after the First Division club won the honour in 2018.

The Arts Office , Waterford City & County Council extends congratulations to Dungarvan poet, Clodagh Beresford Dunne on being awarded the Clarissa Luard Award in London last evening.

The gala event saw Irish novelist Edna O’Brien being awarded a £40,000 lifetime achievement prize regarded as a precursor to the Nobel, for having “moved mountains both politically and lyrically through her writing” in a career spanning almost 60 years. Awarded every two years to a living writer for their entire body of work, the prize was founded by the late cultural philanthropist David Cohen in 1993, in the hopes of starting an equivalent of the Nobel prize for UK and Irish authors. Many recipients, including VS Naipaul, Doris Lessing and Harold Pinter, went on to become Nobel laureates.

Winners of the David Cohen prize are also tasked with bestowing the £10,000 Clarissa Luard award on an emerging writer. O’Brien selected Clodagh Beresford Dunne, an Irish poet from Dungarvan, County Waterford, who has yet to publish a collection. O’Brien said she became aware of Beresford Dunne’s poetry after seeing her read at a literary festival in Ireland. “I had many claims on who I would wish this prize to go to, including in Nigeria, so it was hard for me. But I decided to give it to a fellow Irish girl – well, she’s a girl and I am a woman – because I know how much she loves poetry and with four children and a husband, she wants more than anything to have a book of poetry published,” she said.

The Arts Office has been a long time supporter of Clodagh’s work and she has received the Waterford ArtLinks bursary to support her writing on a number of occasions. We wish her all the best for her future writing.

Director of Waterford Treasures Museums appointed Officer of The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for his impressive work in raising awareness of the Viking history in Waterford.

Today, Friday 15^th November at a special reception held in the Medieval Museum, The Viking Triangle, Waterford, museum director Mr Eamonn McEneaney, was appointed Officer (Knight First Grade) of The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by Her Excellency Else Berit Eikeland, Ambassador of Norway to Ireland, on behalf of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway. The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit is conferred on foreign and Norwegian nationals as a reward for outstanding service in the interest of Norway.

The Mayor of Waterford City and County, Councillor John Pratt formally welcomed Her Excellency to Waterford before the proceedings began.

Mr. McEneaney receives this honour for his impressive work in raising awareness of the Viking history in Waterford, and his importance in strengthening the connections between Norway and Ireland.

Ambassador of Norway Else Berit Eikeland said; “I am honoured to present Eamonn McEneaney the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit on behalf of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway. Eamonn McEneaney has done so much to raise awareness of the extent of the Viking and Norse connection and influence in early Medieval Ireland.”

The Waterford Libraries’ “Towers and Tales” Schools Programme has been shortlisted for the 2019 Excellence in Local Government awards.

The Chamber’s Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards is an annual celebration recognising commitment, hard work, dedication and excellence within the local authority sector.

Waterford Libraries: Towers and Tales Story Festival Schools Programme has been shortlisted in the Best Library Category at the 2019 awards. This category showcases innovative projects and highlights best practice, skill, enthusiasm, social inclusion and community engagement in the library services.

Waterford City & County Council Library Service has been a partner and supporter of the Towers and Tales Story Festival since its inception in 2015.  Lismore Castle is the spectacular setting for the annual festival which celebrates children’s books, illustration and storytelling in all its forms.

An abundance of high-profile authors and tailored events throughout the day ensures enchanting experiences for young and old alike.  These author events have been shown to have a profound and lasting impact, not only on reading skills but also inspiring creativity and connecting children to the wonder of books. However, many children cannot attend the festival for various reasons and most primary schools do not have resources to hold these events themselves.

The Towers & Tales School’s Programme was therefore devised to bring these experiences to a wide range of children and offer all schools the opportunity to get involved.  Through the programme, Waterford Libraries bring Towers and Tales authors to schools, libraries and various venues across the county. This enables multiple classes from many different schools to experience unforgettable and transformational experiences with literature, art & creativity.

This year, 43 Waterford schools attended programme events involving over 1700 children. With the festival going from strength to strength, the development of this programme will continue to expand involving larger numbers of school children and fostering creative spirit.

The 2019 awards will be held in Dublin on November 28th, and all at Waterford City & County Council wish the “Towers & Tales” entry the best of luck!

Director of Waterford Treasures Museums to be appointed Officer of The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit for his impressive work in raising awareness of the Viking history in Waterford.

On Friday 15^th November at a special reception to be held in the Medieval Museum, The Viking Triangle, Waterford, museum director Mr Eamonn McEneaney, will be appointed Officer (Knight First Grade) of The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit by Her Excellency Else Berit Eikeland, Ambassador of Norway to Ireland, on behalf of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway.

The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit is conferred on foreign and Norwegian nationals as a reward for outstanding service in the interest of Norway.

Eamonn McEneaney receives this honour for his impressive work in raising awareness of the Viking history in Waterford, and his importance in strengthening the connections between Norway and Ireland.

Waterford, founded by Norse Vikings, is a city which remained strongly influenced by the Norse for hundreds of years thereafter.

Ambassador of Norway Else Berit Eikeland said; “I am honoured to present Eamonn McEneaney the Royal Norwegian Order of Merit on behalf of His Majesty King Harald V of Norway. Eamonn McEneaney has done so much to raise awareness of the extent of the Viking and Norse connection and influence in early Medieval Ireland.”

END

HE Else Berit Eikeland
Ambassador of Norway to Ireland
The Royal Norwegian Embassy
Ferry House
48-53 Mount Street Lower
Dublin 2
D02 PT98

ebe@mfa.no

Waterford City & County Council’s Arts Office is pleased to announce that the winner of the national Molly Keane Creative Writing Award 2019 is Fiona Ennis from Butlerstown, Co. Waterford with a story titled ‘Debt’.

Fiona has a BA in English and Philosophy and an MA in English Literature and Publishing from NUI Galway. She also holds a PhD in Philosophy from University College Cork. She lectures in Literature and Philosophy in Waterford Institute of Technology.

Fiona comes from a literary background as her father is the noted poet John Ennis who has published over twenty collections of poems and has had his poetry represented in numerous journals and anthologies.

‘Debt’ is the twenty second winner of the Molly Keane Creative Writing Award run by Waterford City & County Council’s Arts Office with support from the Arts Council and by kind permission of the Keane family. Fiona read her winning story at a presentation ceremony during the IMMRAMA Festival, Lismore (15/6/2019) and was presented with prize money of €500.

Margaret Organ, Arts Officer thanked all the entrants and judges for their work. She said that it was encouraging to see entries from all the counties in Ireland and then to have a Waterford winner on this occasion was testament to the writing talent in this County.

She also announced that entries have now opened for the national Waterford Poetry Prize 2019, results of which will be announced at the Waterford Writers Weekend in October during the Imagine Festival. See this post and waterfordarts.com for entry details.

Recipient of bursaries to attend ‘Time to Write’ with writer Lani O’Hanlon at the Molly Keane Writers Retreat, Ardmore in August were also awarded. Full bursaries went to Martine O’Donovan and Ciara O’Brien, Tramore and partial bursaries to Joanne McCarthy and Paul Casey/Waterford city.