Stoneybatter community group wins top prize at neighbourhood awards
A community group in Stoneybatter has won the top prize at the Dublin City Council (DCC) Neighbourhood Awards ceremony held yesterday.
Stoneybatter Pride of Place, a voluntary group that organises the Stoneybatter Festival, local clean-ups, and other community events, has won first place in the authority’s awards, which aim to celebrate those who work to improve their local areas.
Along with the top prize, the group was presented with €4,500 by Dublin’s Lord Mayor Ray McAdam at the ceremony which was held at the Clayton Hotel in Ballsbridge.
"For more than two decades, these awards have shone a light on the extraordinary spirit of Dubliners — the residents, volunteers, community groups, schools, and local businesses who give their time, energy, and imagination to make our city better,” he said.
"From the northside to the southside, from the inner city to the suburbs, every corner of Dublin has its own story of pride and progress. Together, those stories weave the fabric of a cleaner, greener, and more vibrant Dublin — a living city powered by people who care deeply about the place they call home.”
Judges especially commended the group’s planting of Manor Street and Stoneybatter, adopting Stoneybatter Green as the focal point of the community.
Their monthly clean-ups, often attended by more than 50 participants, were also cited as reasoning for the award.
But praise was most effusive about the Stoneybatter Festival, held every summer and organised by Stoneybatter Pride of Place.
The three-day event incorporates food, arts, crafts, and many more local activities, culminating in a major street party across Manor Street and Stoneybatter.
Finglas Tidy Towns received the runner-up prize, winning €3,500 for their achievements in greening and cleaning up their area, even reaching out to other community groups around the city and helping them enhance their areas.
Docklands Business Forum were winners in the Overall Business category, receiving a plaque and a prize of €1,500. This group has overseen more than 10,000 hours of community work over the last 15 years from businesses taking part in Volunteer Week.
Activities organised by the group include Yoga, Tech Café, heritage cruises, clean-ups and biodiversity day, amongst others.
Organiser of the awards, Sinéad Mooney, said: “I’ve met such wonderful and passionate people along the way who are so committed to their city.
"The annual awards are all about recognising in a meaningful way the improvements made through the hundreds of hours of voluntary work done by people all over Dublin City.
"It recognises the work put in by residents, businesses and schools in this city to create, shape and enjoy all that is good about their area.”
The awards have been held annually for the last several years, with the Broadstone Basin Resident’s Association winning in 2024, and the runner up being the Willow Park & Pinewood Resident’s Association.
There are 20 categories groups can enter, from 1 – 150 dwellings, open green spaces, community gardens and urban villages, under various heading such as residential, business and schools.