For almost 30 years, Carmel Fox has been at the helm in Ballyhoura Development and her contribution to Ballyhoura Country was marked by staff and board members recently at a special event in her honour, following her retirement as CEO.
A native of Castlelyons in County Cork and living in Glenroe (South Limerick), Carmel has contributed a great deal to the Ballyhoura area over the years.
The theme for the afternoon was ‘Ballyhoura – Community and Creative’ and it started out with a presentation from former Ballyhoura employee John Quinn, at the Kilfinane Outdoor Education Centre. John spoke about the history of Ballyhoura Failte and Ballyhoura Development and the development of Kilfinane from the 1960’s to the present day.
The group then moved on to the former Church of Ireland, where chairperson of Ballyhoura Development Aidan Gleeson, welcomed Padraig Casey the current CEO of Ballyhoura Development, who spoke about the more recent achievements and milestones within Ballyhoura.
A former colleague from Carmel’s days in Teagasc before coming to Ballyhoura, Joe Sheehy gave an entertaining account of working with Carmel and told of how Carmel fought for equal pay for her colleagues and succeeded.
Diarmuid McIntyre of Grey Heron Media put together a short video combining contributions from former chairpersons, colleagues, former colleagues and people from the different communities, speaking about what working with Carmel meant to them.
“All of the stories and videos conveyed the high regard that people hold Carmel in and of the respect people have for her. It aptly put across the extraordinary person she is and re-iterated the unwavering contribution she has made to Ballyhoura Country,” a spokesperson for Ballyhoura Development said.
Carmel’s own presentation was light hearted and entertaining, as she looked back over her years with Ballyhoura Development. She was presented with a gift from the board and staff members.
Students from the Ballyhoura Catering LTI based in Bruff had prepared a feast for the occasion using some of the renowned products from the area.
Both the weather and settings for the afternoon were perfect as people gathered to pay tribute to Carmel who has done so much for Ballyhoura Development. We wish her well in her retirement!
