“The guiding philosophy of these awards is to honour achievement and celebrate success so that others may be inspired to follow. Leadership has always been an important dynamic in every region and award schemes promote leadership plus community initiatives, and that must be a good thing. The nominees come from across the board, from community activists to well known sporting personalities. I take great pride in discovering these people, in particular the community activists and in giving them the platform they deserve. That’s what makes the Cork Person of the Month Awards so different.”

He takes great pride in the local community also, in particular the promotion of the communities he resides in. A few years ago he established the Mallow Business Breakfast Club, which is a networking forum to promote the town.  “Fellow Mallow men, that I grew up with like John Hurley the Governor of the Central Bank and Gerry Hickey the Taoiseach’s Programme Manager, act as sort of Ambassadors for our home town when we can and I do the same thing for Ballincollig where I now live. We use our contacts and networking opportunities to accentuate the positive about places that we like.”

Away from these numerous activities, Manus somehow manages to find the time to indulge in his passion for the arts. “In my younger days I used to write plays and sketches. I still have an interest in the arts as does my son (Manus is married to Betty, with one son Manus (27) who works in Corporate Finance at Bank of Ireland H/Q in Dublin and one daughter Kate (22) who is a final year Science student at Trinity College, Dublin) who calls himself a consumer of the arts. Everyone wants to be involved in the creation of art but I firmly believe we need more consumers, to support worthwhile ventures and long-established companies such as the Everyman. I would also like to see more involvement from potential sponsors in the city.”

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