A Request

[Syferus]

Just to be serious for the briefest moment:

Last year a man from Gorthaganny, Liam Elwood, died aged 38 as a result of a workplace accident when he was bringing home materials after helping with the Olympics and the Special Olympics in London. Liam was in every sense of the word a pillar of the community, not just in Gorthaganny but in Lisacul, Loughglynn, Ballagh, Castlerea and elsewhere. He was heavily involved in fundraising for the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice. He was key to setting up the group water scheme in Gorthaganny. Ming and himself were the key people in developing the snooker club in Castlerea. Anyone who ever went into Coney Island, his parents' pub in Gorthaganny that he essentially ran, will probably know who I'm talking about instantly. It's the only pub for miles and serves much more as the heart of the community than a business and that's exactly how Liam ran it.

He was also heavily involved with the GAA, in particular his club Eire Óg in Loughglynn - any Roscommon posters might remember there was a minute's silence before last year's county final for him - and he was instrumental in fundraising for the Dermot Earley Memorial that now rests outside Dermot's homeplace in Gorthaganny. Indeed only Dermot's death effected the community in anything close to as profound a way as Liam's has - his first anniversary mass was a couple weeks ago and the church was literally overflowing with people wanting to show their appreciation for Liam and all he did for the community. More than anything he was an incredibly personable man who went out of his way to help people in all manner of ways, be they small or large.

Anyways, Calor are staging their inaugural Calor Community Champion Award and Liam is one of the 32 nominees who have reached the public voting stage. The way it works is that the four nominees with the most votes (and two others selected by the judging panel) go ahead to the final round of selection and it's from that group that the winner is chosen. The judging panel includes Síle Seoige and Micheál Ó Muircheartaigh.

The prize is a bursary of €7500 to a charity of the winner's choice (in Liam's case, the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice would be the likely recipient) and a personal prize of €1500, which in the case of Liam would go to the Gorthaganny development committee (which Liam was a member of) or to the Mayo-Roscommon Hospice. The exact details, for obvious reasons, haven't been worked out.

The goal is to get Liam enough votes so that he makes the top four - he's currently third - and after that it's out of our hands. You can vote every day until November 8th but if you could vote just once it'd be greatly appreciated. You'll have to have a Facebook account to vote but voting is anonymous. Thank you.

PC link: https://www.facebook.com/calorireland/app_306230512794109

Mobile link: https://www.facebook.com/calorireland/app_306230512794109?ref=ts

[ziggysego]

Voted

[Syferus]

Voted

Cheers boss

[ziggy90]

Sorted, many's the pint I had in Molly o' the Bog's.

[Lar Naparka]

No problem, Syf. I'll vote early and often.

[Syferus]

No problem, Syf. I'll vote early and often.

I knew the Ballagh Rossies would come through for us! Cheers Lar

Liam is down to fourth now but there's just about nothing between second, third and fourth place right now.