Congratulations to the Bantry Tidy Towns committee and all volunteers who helped Bantry to gain 5 extra points this year.

It is a difficult hill to climb but the local tidy towns group have succeeded again in increasing their score.

Well done to all Involved.

Click here to see Bantry's result

For more information about Bantry Tidy Towns click here

ONE of the most popular sporting events in West Cork, the Fastnet Rally, which brings the curtain down on the Dunlop National Rally Championship will be based in Bantry and sponsored by the Westlodge Hotel, strengthened by a major involvement with Bantry Town Council and Bantry Business Association.

Taking place on the October bank holiday weekend, the rally itself will take place over eight special stages in the vicinity of the host town on Sunday, October 30th. The cars willbe based in the square in Bantry during the event creating a fantastic buzz around town

The Fastnet Rally is the tenth and final round of the series along with being a counting round of the Southern 4 Rally Championship.

Photo:Joe Lane

The Fastnet Rally will become the latest addition to other sporting fixtures in Bantry that include the Bay Run halfmarathon, ,National Windsurfing championship, road trotting and national road bowling competitions and next year will see the return of the Atlantic Challenge the international contest of seamanship.

West Cork Music are delighted to announce that the 2011 West Cork Literary Festival programme is now available on www.westcorkliteraryfestival.ie and from the office at 13 Glengarriff Rd, Bantry, Co. Cork. If you would like to be sent a copy, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Sincerely,

Running home to Bantry Bay a new goal for Cork Captain Graham Canty

The 6^th annual Bantry Bay Run, a half Marathon which takes place on the May Bank Holiday weekend, Sunday, May 1^st 2011 from the beautiful village of Glengarriff, along the coastal route to Bantry was recently launched at the Maritime Hotel, Bantry, Co. Cork.  Cork Senior Football Captain Graham Canty and members of the Bay Run’s chosen charity, the Bantry Division of the Special Olympics were there in support of the initiative which is expected to give a huge boost to the local economy as it has done in its previous six years.

According to Race Coordinator Diarmaid Murphy, ‘With the support of local icon Cork’s Senior Footfall Captain Graham Canty; we anticipate the level of registrations for Bay Run ’11 will reach significant numbers and all sponsorship moneys generated from the Bay Run ’11 will go toward the running of the Bantry Division of the Special Olympics.’

Over 1,300 runners, joggers and walkers took part in Bay Run ’10 and amongst them were many well known celebrities namely Ray D’arcy from Today Fm,  Dave Mac and Phillip Bourke from Red fm and internationally renowned long distance runner Catherina McKiernan.  Catherine has been the official starter of the Bantry Bay Run over the last number of years and will again commence the 13km race from Glengarriff to Bantry.

Mayor of Bantry Cllr. John Connolly said, ‘The Bay Run has been the event to kick start Summertime in Bantry in West Cork and we look forward to seeing athletes and aficionados in their droves come down to our beautiful scenic town and compete in this event as there is an enormous sense of achievement when one crosses the finish line in Bantry town centre.  The official sponsors of the Bantry Bay Run ’11, the Maritime Hotel, Andrews’ Centra and many businesses in the Bantry and Glengarriff area are chipping in and offering their support which is greatly appreciated.’

Registration at www.bayrun.ie costs €50

Unemployment in West Cork

There are almost 500,000 people unemployed in the country and approximately 9,000 on the Live Register in West Cork.  There are very limited services for unemployed people with just one Fàs office in the whole of West Cork.  There are no Job Clubs, Job support services or Unemployment  Resources centres and all of these are vital to a region like ours with so many people unemployed.

Because of the lack of support and services a group of unemployed people in the Bantry area decided to take responsibility for themselves and set up Return to Employment Action Programme (REAP).  This group meet every Thursday morning at 10:30 in The Attic Youth Café, Marino Street Bantry.

The aim of the group is to facilitate people to come together in order to support each other to become employed.

The objectives of the group are:

Ø Identify the type of support that is needed

Ø Establish any training requirements

Ø Motivate ourselves into employment

Ø Conduct regular meetings

Ø Continually make people aware of the Group and what it is about

Ø Involve local community organisations and employers

Ø Undertake projects to improve opportunities for unemployed in the locality

The group was set up in early September and to date have started projects such as an ‘Ideas Box’ which is an initiative to seek ideas from the local community on job creation, job opportunities, ideas for solving unemployment locally and  any ideas for new business.  These boxes and forms were placed in locations throughout the locality and the response was very positive.  This initiative is now being taken to local employers and when all the ideas are compiled they will be put on the web site.

Another project is the setting up of a web which should be up and running soon.  This will allow people to use the site as a social networking for the unemployed and everyone would be encouraged to use the forum.

REAP hopes it can get funding so that an Unemployment Resource Centre can be set up in every town in West Cork. An Unemployment Resource Centre would offer a wide range of services to the local community which would provide much needed practical support, advice, guidance and information relating to employment and training.  This together with peer support will in turn give hope and confidence to people in their search for employment. With a service like this people would have a better chance of gaining employment or setting themselves up in business.  For a small amount of funding the rewards to the community would be huge and measurable.

The Bantry model of REAP can be duplicated in other towns around West Cork and the Bantry group are happy to lend any support or advice that is needed.

REAP meet every Thursday morning at 10:30 in The Attic Youth Café, Marino Street Bantry and everyone is welcome.  If you would like any further information contact Eileen on 086 3696057 or Richard on 086 2801002