ATHY Men’s Shed was presented with a highly commended award at the Local Ireland Get Involved Awards for their Barrow Cot project last week.

The Local Ireland Get Involved Awards are an initiative of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Local Ireland which is an organisation which promotes readership of local newspapers in Ireland.

The Kildare Nationalist nominated the Athy Men’s Shed Barrow Cot project, a project which saw members build a replica Barrow Cot. The Barrow Cot was a regular feature on the river in the 1700s and 1800s and the Athy Men’s Shed group, with the support of the Athy Enterprise Centre made one boat based on an original Barrow Cot boat which was used by Cassidy’s Distillery and Brewery in Monasterevin. The boat would have been navigated using a pole in a manner similar to the Gondolas of Venice.

The project was one of 30 community initiatives entered into the competition and the awards were announced at a ceremony in Blanchardstown last week. The Athy team were among the six finalists and were one of three highly commended projects named on the day. The winners among the six finalists had been decided by a panel of judges led by environmentalist and architect Duncan Stewart and a social media based public vote.

The judges commended the work of the group and in particular praised The Athy Men’s Shed group for their social media campaign to encourage votes for the project. The social media campaign was devised by Men’s Shed member Gerry Walsh and the group were presented with a €250 award for this aspect of the project.

Following the awards ceremony Athy Men’s Shed member Pierce McLoughlin said: “We are delighted to have been among the final six. 30 projects entered the competition and the standard was very high so to get a highly commended national award is fantastic for us as a group.”