Athlone Croí na hÉireann the biggest winner from council event grants

The Athlone Croí na hÉireann group, which organises the town's St Patrick's Day parade and other related festivities, received the lion's share from the first batch of council funding for local festivals and events this year.

The Athlone Moate Municipal District allocates festival and event grant funding to local groups in two tranches each year.

The first allocations, for which council funds of €17,500 were set aside, were agreed at the March meeting of the district, and saw €12,000 being awarded to Athlone Croí na hÉireann.

In its funding application to the council, the Croí na hÉireann group said the timing of its festival "fills a slot in the calendar year that is not in place elsewhere in the country".

It added: "The festival is over five days so it is not just focused on St Patrick's Day like other towns and cities in the country. Croí means heart in English, and Athlone is located in the heart of Ireland."

The second largest council grant, of €2,000, went to the Westmeath Rose of Tralee selection event which is being held at the Greville Arms Hotel in Mullingar this Saturday, April 6.

Moate's St Patrick's Day parade, meanwhile, was awarded €1,500 from the council toward the staging of this year's event.

A sum of €1,000 was approved for the Westmeath Ploughing Association, as a contribution toward the recent staging of its Westmeath County Ploughing Match in Clonfad, Dalystown, on March 10.

Féile Ceoil na Scoileanna, Áth Luain, which said it was the "only non-competitive Féile in the Midlands" was given a €500 grant towards this year's event, which was held in the Dean Crowe Theatre from March 12-14.

Loughnavalley Tidy Towns was also given €500 toward this year's St Patrick's Day parade, the third to be staged in the local community.

When the draft funding allocations were presented to councillors at the March meeting, Cllr Liam McDaniel voiced frustration about two applications for funding which had been turned down by council management.

The Horseleap Streamstown Community Association had applied for €1,000 towards the cost of a senior citizens' party, with a meal and music, which was held in the local community centre on January 28.

Tyrrellspass Tidy Towns had also applied for €1,100 towards its Easter Sunday breakfast and Easter Egg hunt held last weekend.

Both of these applications were turned down because council officials felt they did not meet the relevant criteria, and Cllr McDaniel said he was "disappointed" that the two rural groups did not have their applications approved.

"What I see here is substantial sums going to the big urban areas and small amounts, or zero, going to rural areas. And that annoys me," he stated.

Councillors Paul Hogan and Tom Farrell spoke in support of Cllr McDaniel's position, with Cllr Hogan saying he believed there was an additional sum of €3,000 available, which had not been allocated last year, and that this money should be used to support the Horseleap and Tyrrellspass events.

There were no objections from any of the other councillors to Cllr Hogan's suggestion, so it was agreed that these two events would also be supported with grants from the local authority.