Bere Island secures Lottery funding

BY HELEN RIDDELL

BERE Island Projects Group is  among the six groups in Cork who have been announced as county winners in the National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2022.

The awards were created to honour and showcase the inspiring work being carried out by thousands of projects, clubs and individuals in their local communities across Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding. Nearly 30 cent of every euro spent on National Lottery games goes back to ‘Good Causes’ all over the country.

Bere Island Projects Group are winners of the heritage category for their work in documenting and commemorating the island’s military history as part of the Decade of Centenaries.

Bere Island was a British Admiralty base during WW1 and following the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in 1922 became one of Ireland’s three Treaty Ports.

As a result of Good Causes funding via the Heritage Council, they have employed a worker to implement a series of actions listed on the Bere Island Conservation Plan, which has included a comprehensive programme of events for the Decade of Centenaries, to mark Bere Island’s role – not just in Irish history, but in European history.

It’s the second time that Bere Island has featured in the Good Causes Awards, as the group reached the finals in 2019.