County Mayor's Diary Cllr Gillian Coughlan

February Fill Dyke is how a wonderful teacher originally from Cape Clear used to refer to the month of February.

I always wondered about the origins of this saying and until the advent of Google I didn’t know and still am not sure, it could be from a famous Victorian landscape or from an old country rhyme. In any case a bit of rain in Ireland never stopped us from getting on with things. I’ve been busy traversing the county as lots of wonderful projects come to fruition. I was in Macroom to officially open the newly refurbished playground which underwent a significant makeover.

I was very impressed to learn that several of the original features were renovated and repainted, it is testament to the respect shown by the local community for the amenity.

There was lots of new equipment installed for younger and older children too including a spacenet and junior and senior mega multiplay units. I was happy to leave the children to what they do best, letting off steam as they tried and tested all the equipment.

Then I was in Bandon last Friday, 11 February, for the official launch of the first Safe Route to School Zone at Scoil Phadraig Naofa.

It was wonderful to see the excitement of the pupils, out on their scooters and bicycles.

There are brightly coloured shapes painted on the road, a raised pedestrian crossing and pencil shaped bollards have also been erected to prevent cars from parking on the footpath.

It will be a wonderful sight to see children and adults travelling to and from the school in such an attractive and safe environment.

Not all fun and games but still a very welcome addition to the safety and well being of the citizens of the county was the opportunity to collaborate with Stryker to install life-saving defibrillators along a section of the Dunkettle-Midleton cycleway, stored in the very attractive old public phone boxes of my childhood. Who remembers pouring coins into the phone box?

The deadline for the annual Mayor’s Community Awards, which I will be hosting has been extended to Friday 18 February. So, avail of the opportunity to acknowledge just some of the local heroes that dedicate their time and efforts into making their community a better place.

Nominations can be made through your local councillor or Cork County Public Participation Network. You will also find details on the council’s website corkcoco.ie.

I’m still waiting for my daffodils to make an appearance in the garden, I have lots of green stalks so it looks like it might be a healthy crop, in the meantime I’m making do with a beautiful bouquet of cut flowers on the kitchen table from a wonderful local family business.

Stay safe and keep well.