Meath Tourism News

The Results from the Amateur Photography Competition

For the third consecutive year, Meath Tourism and the Office of Public collaborated to organise a successful amateur photography competition themed ‘Heritage is Alive’ in order to showcase the vibrant heritage in County Meath.  County Meath is known as the Heritage Capital of Ireland and some of the Office of Public Works busiest visitor attractions are here such as Newgrange and Knowth, Trim Castle, Hill of Tara and Loughrew. The aim of the competition is to promote these sites and all of the rest of the wonderful heritage that is in abundance in Co Meath.
 
The competition was open to people of all ages who were given the opportunity to discover heritage and share it with a photograph. An estimated 35,000 would viewed a selection of the photographs over the three and a half weeks it was displayed in the centre.

There was an excellent response to the competition with 398 entries this year which is a 25% increase from 2007.  The judges of the competition, Loreto Guinan, Heritage Officer, Meath County Council and Con Brogan, Senior Photographer from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government were overwhelmed by the quality of the images entered in the competition. After a long deliberation, David Mc Lean was decided as the overall winner for his beautiful photograph of swans at Stackallen Bridge.

The presentation of prizes ceremony took place at Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre on Thursday (May 22nd). All 26 prize winners were presented their prize by Mr Tom Dowling, County Manager, Meath County Council.
At the Prize giving, Clare Tuffy, OPW and Manager of Brú na Bóinne Visitor Centre enthused that ‘Meath’s talent for photography is apparently a family trait as from all 26 winners there were three sisters, two brothers, husband and wife and father and daughter who won prizes’. All winning photographs will be included in a spectacular 2009 Calendar, which will be available for sale at each of the tourist offices in County Meath at the end of 2008.
The OPW and Meath Tourism would like to thank the sponsors of the competition: Ashbourne Marriott Hotel, Causey Farm, Newgrange Farm, Newgrange Falconry, Puddenhill Activity Centre, and Rathbeggan Lakes, Brú na Bóinne Tea Rooms, Solstice Arts Centre, Venue Theatre, and Russell Restaurant.  They donated a plethora of prizes which appealed to every age including a Luxury stay at the Ashbourne Marriott Hotel, a class trip to the Causey Experience, a falconry lesson for a school class, meals in Meath's top restaurants, vouchers for Venue Theatre and Solstice Arts Centre and vouchers for Puddenhill and Rathbeggan lakes.
Also, The OPW and Meath Tourism would like to extend our appreciation towards the Wilkinstown Active Retirement Group who helped us launch the Photography Competition in Kells on a windy afternoon on March 6th and Flexibus, the Community Bus Service who always do a great job for communities in Co Meath and who provided transport on the day.