Top Living Dublin award for docklands authority

The Dublin Docklands Development Authority has won the overall award, and first prize in the culture and tourism category, in this year's Living Dublin Awards.

The awards, sponsored by The Irish Times and run by Dublin Chamber of Commerce and Dublin City Council, celebrate individuals and organisations working to improve the quality of life in Dublin.

Awards and commendations were given in five categories reflecting a broad spectrum of community and civic work, including community development; business in the community; education; Dublin city neighbourhoods; and culture and tourism.

The authority won in two sections for its annual maritime festival. Based around the "tall ships" visit to Dublin, the festival includes markets and dockside entertainment.

"The port is an integral part of the history and culture of Dublin. We turned our back on the Liffey for far too long. The Liffey is the lifeblood of Dublin, and we're delighted to run an event which attracts people back to this part of the city," the authority's marketing director, Loretta Lambkin, said.

The community development category was won jointly by Tallaght-based programme the Childhood Development Initiative, and Ruhama, the service for women in prostitution.

The Tallaght project, launched last October by the Taoiseach, focuses on improving the future for children in Tallaght through a range of education, health and developmental projects.

"We're going to be seeking our main funding in the next few months, so the recognition this award gives us can only support our funding application, and in itself the recognition is phenomenal," group spokeswoman Katie Keogh said.

Ruhama representative Kathleen Fahy said the award would highlight an area that was largely invisible, or ignored by the public. "It's also a great recognition of the work of the more than 40 volunteers we have," she said.

Another Tallaght project, the Scoil Chroí Ró Naofa "looking forward" programme, which encourages primary school children to aspire to third-level education, won the education category.

"We wanted to show them that third level was as much for them as anyone else," deputy principal Maureen O'Reilly said.

An Intel Ireland project which gives disadvantaged teenagers access to the latest software won the business in the community category. The Intel Computer Clubhouse, in the Liberties area, provides teenagers with the equipment and the experience of professional software mentors to develop websites, produce music or edit film.

The inner-city residents of Boyne Street, along with their neighbours in Sandwith Street and Cumberland Street, won the Dublin city neighbourhoods category.

The award, which arises out of Dublin City Council's tidy districts competition, was given for the residents' efforts to maintain their newly renovated flats complexes.

Presenting the awards, Lord Mayor of Dublin Catherine Byrne said the work done by all the winners echoed "everything that was good about Dublin".

The awards reflected the theme she had chosen for her term as mayor: "What we do alone remains a dream, but what we do together becomes a reality."

The Irish Times's sponsorship of the awards reflected its long history and relationship with the city, managing director of The Irish Times Maeve Donovan said.

"This is an opportunity for us to give something back to some of the many people who make this city what it is."