TWO Clare towns have been named in the running to be crowned Ireland’s most enterprising town. Both Ennis and Kilrush are among the finalists announced for Bank of Ireland’s Begin Together Awards 2020.
This year, the awards recognise business and community groups who have come together to support their local area as they start to rebuild and recover from the impact of COVID-19.
Ennis is a finalist in the large towns category, with a population of over 14,000 and are facing Sligo in the finals. A spokesperson for Ennis Chamber said they are “delighted” to have made it to the finals adding the town is “up for the challenge”.
Ennis is joined in the finals by Kilrush which is in the 2,001-4,000 population category facing Carndonagh, County Donegal.
A total awards prize fund of over €200,000 is available to finalists to help reboot local economies across the island of Ireland. 21 awards are involved with the overall winner receiving €50,000 and the title of Ireland’s ‘Most Enterprising Town’. There is also a prize of €20,000 for the winner of the ‘Rising Star’ award.
Reflecting the new challenges that communities and businesses currently face as a result of the pandemic three special COVID-response awards have been introduced: 
Local Town Promotion Initiative; Local Community Enterprise Initiative and Local Business and Community Response Initiative.
The judging panel will review all finalists in September and the winners will be announced on Virgin Media TV’s Ireland AM in early October.  The awards initiative this year is being fast-tracked to provide funding to winning towns in October in order to directly assist their COVID-19 recovery.
Commenting on the finalist announcement, Eamonn Corcoran, Head of Bank of Ireland for Clare said, “Through these awards we are supporting businesses and communities across the island of Ireland impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic as they start to rebuild and get back on their feet. We have seen that incredible and powerful things can be achieved when communities, business groups and local authorities come together to meet their own challenges and make their own opportunities.”