Community was Celebrated in some style on Sunday the 23rd of June last when Clane Community Council held a special Celebration of Community in the Abbey on Main Street. Festooned with bunting and banners, and with the Tricolour proudly flying on the newly commissioned flagpole, the Abbey was alive with dignitaries, special guests, displays from local voluntary groups, entertainment and a wonderful buzz of community.
Proceedings began at 3pm with the arrival of special guests the Mayor of Kildare Cllr. Micheál Spike Nolan, the President of Muintir na Tíre Mr. John Hogan and his wife Kay, and the Lord Mayor of Clane Mr. Des Marron. All were welcomed to the village green and given a tour of the Abbey and the various community groups that had set up their wonderful displays. These included the Scouts, the Red Cross, Clane Lawn Tennis Club, Clane Project Centre, The Evergreen’s, Clane Local History Group, the Irish Countrywomen’s Association, Clane Musical Society and Clane Community Council itself with its various subcommittees including Clane Tidy Towns, Clane and Rathcoffey Community Games and Clane Friary and Abbey Cemetery committee. The local branch of Comhaltas provided wonderful entertainment as people enjoyed the banter, renewed friendships and learned something new at the various stands they visited.
Master of Ceremonies Des Drumm then invited the Chairman of the Community Council, John Kennedy, to introduce our three special guests. The Mayor of Kildare, President of Muintir na Tire and Lord Mayor of Clane all addressed the crowd, as did the Chairman, all pointing out the wonderful achievements of the Community in Clane over the last 40 years and more. That the community had converted a roofless ruin of a building into the fine Community Centre that is now the Abbey was just one example highlighting what the community in Clane has been able to achieve.
The Chairman then announced the launch of a new Community award for a person, people or organization that has made an exceptional contribution to the community of Clane. It was the chairman’s honour to reveal that this award, the Claonadh Award, was indeed to be awarded that very day and a very surprised Mr. Tony McEvoy was announced as the inaugural recipient, to rapturous and sustained applause.
The presentation of the Claonadh Award was followed by the unveiling of a new plaque on the Village Green dedicated to Celebrating Community. This was followed by a wonderful spread of food and refreshments kindly donated by restaurants and shops in the Community. Larchfield Park Nursing Home also provided generous financial sponsorship to support the entire event.
After several months of planning, and indeed over 40 years of hard work by many community groups, everyone went home with a smile on their face. A sincere thank you to all who helped organize the celebration, all who contributed to it, all who participated, and all who attended.
We can all now see what the community can accomplish when it works together for the common good – imagine what achievements we will be celebrating in the years to come.