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2007 Local Government Employee of the Year and Project Awards

(Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart)

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2007 Local Government Employee of the Year and Project Awards

• Removal of Belfast Murals
• Women’s Development in Omagh
• Coping with Floods in Castlereagh
• Achieving Museum Accreditation in Newry and
• Fitness First in Newtownabbey

Where else would you get such diversity in one sector?

Celebrating Best Practice in Local Government at a ceremony held Wednesday 4 June 2008 at the Flowerfield Arts Centre, Portstewart, hosted by Councillor Maurice Bradley, Mayor of Coleraine Borough Council, presentations were made to the prizewinners in the 2007 Local Government Employee of the Year and Project Competitions.  Members of the Trust attending the presentations were accompanied by Mrs M E Johnston and Miss Elaine Johnston, widow and daughter of the late William Johnston, JP, of Armagh in whose name the Trust was set up.  The awards were presented by Mrs Johnston.

This is the final year of the these competitions in their current format as the Trust competitions will be incorporated into a wider Local Government Awards Programme in partnership with the Local Government Staff Commission, Northern Ireland Local Government Association, Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and the Department of the Environment under the guidance of the Association of Public Service Excellence who have a wealth of experience in this field.

Employee of the Year Competition

As always the standard of application was very high and prizes were awarded to officers demonstrating dedication and professionalism that influences and inspires others.  Chairman of the Trust, Mr Fergus Wheeler commented “every application received was impressive and demonstrates the wealth of talented and dedicated employees within the Local Government Service”.

First prize of a Tyrone Crystal Vase and £100 was awarded to John Thompson, Health and Safety Officer at Castlereagh Borough Council.

John’s skill and commitment was put to the test in June last year when emergency planning was put into action to deal with major floods.  This required him to work long hours liaising with residents and other agencies in a calm, committed and professional manner exceeding the expectations of what would be expected of him as a local government officer.  His commitment was recognised by all the staff he worked with, the other agencies involved, elected members and the affected residents he came into contact with.  He has the ability to motivate others and produces innovative solutions to health and safety problems in his role as Health and Safety Officer at Castlereagh Borough Council.

Second Prize of a Tyrone Crystal Vase and £50 was awarded to Noreen Cunningham, Museum Curator for Newry and Mourne District Council.

Noreen also impressed the Trust as someone with the ability to motivate and enthuse those around her.  Her extensive knowledge and commitment has resulted in the achievement of Northern Ireland Museum Council accreditation for Newry and Mourne Museum.

Third Prize of a Tyrone Crystal Vase and £25 was awarded to Mandy Davidson, Fitness Instructor with Newtownabbey Borough Council. 

Mandy’s dedication and commitment has made a real difference on a personal level to the people she comes in contact with; she is highly motivated and leads from the front motivating others.

Year on year numerous examples of dedicated and committed local government employees are highlighted by the competition and they are all Employee of the Year in their own right within their nominating council.  This year Certificates of Commendation were presented to the following local government employees:

Mrs Gill Cubitt	Antrim Borough Council
Mr Roy Martin	Banbridge District Council
Mr Tim Husbands	Belfast City Council
Mr Matt Hunter	Carrickfergus Borough Council
Mr Colin McCabrey	Craigavon Borough Council
Miss Nikki McAlinden	Newry and Mourne District Council
Mr Jonathan McGilly	Newry and Mourne District Council
Miss Aisling Rennick	Newry and Mourne District Council
Mr Dermot Russell	Newry and Mourne District Council
Mrs Caroline Douglas	Newtownabbey Borough Council

Project Competition

The standard of applications for this competition increases every year making the decisions particularly difficult. 

This year first prize of a Tyrone Crystal Bowl is awarded to Belfast City Council’s Mural Removal Project.

This project first started in 2003 with the ‘Greater Shankill Cleanup’  and was so successful that the council saw the opportunity to ‘go a step further’ in creating a ‘clean and attractive city’.  The council has worked in partnership with the Northern Ireland Housing Executive, key local community representative and the wider local community focused on the possibility of removing and replacing contentious political and paramilitary graffiti and murals.  The steps taken to engage with communities including the involvement of young people is impressive and testament to their success is the fact that community representatives were actually coming forward requesting murals in their areas  to be included in the project.  In total 30 political and sectarian murals have been removed with plans for the removal of 3 others.  Some of the murals have been replaced with community focused murals celebrating for example local sporting heros such as George Best and Gary Hamilton, however a third of the walls have been repainted without a mural with the agreement of the local community.  Perhaps most impressive is that the project has become a model for a funded multi-agency partnership in rolling out mural removal throughout the rest of Northern Ireland.

Second Prize of a Tyrone Crystal Bowl is awarded to Omagh District council’s Women Redress Advancement in Public Sector (WRAPS) Project

This is a 2 year programme focusing on personal, professional and business development of women within three public sector organisations in Omagh, ie Omagh District Council, South West College Omagh Campus and the Western Health and Social Care Trust.

The project was put in place to enhance the skills and qualifications of women and redress the gender imbalance in the workplace.  The application demonstrated the project has made a difference to individuals, employer organisations and the wider community.  As well as exceeding the original targets set.  Elements of the project have been so successful that they have been mainstreamed in council business.

Other project entries also demonstrate a high standard of innovation and initiative were awarded Certificates of merit as follows:

Antrim Borough Council	Fit Families Project
Armagh City and District Council	Freedom of the City and District for Lord and Lady Eames and Community Concert
Banbridge District Council	Waste Minimisation and Recycling
Belfast City Council	Business Improvement through Environmental Solutions
Coleraine Borough Council	Environmental Health Working Visit to Zombia-Malawi
Cookstown District Council	Willow Biomass Energy Project at Cookstown Leisure Centre
Craigavon Borough Council	E-Region Development Project
Moyle District Council	Cottage Wood
Newry and Mourne District Council	Carlingford Lough: A cross-border, marine infrastructure tourism development programme.

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