With fewer than 300 days to the end of the millennium, the level of interest being shown was phenomenal, the chairman of the National Millennium Committee, Mr Seamus Brennan, said yesterday.
The Government Chief Whip and Minister of State presented awards in Limerick and Waterford to students whose designs were shortlisted in a competition to find a millennium logo for Ireland. Nine designs have been selected and a final decision is expected within weeks. Three designs were unveiled yesterday.
The students presented with the awards were from the Limerick School of Art and Design, joint winners Mr Stephen Labanyi (22), Clonlara, Co Clare, a native of Dublin, and Mr Jerry O'Dwyer, Rahealty, Thurles, Co Tipperary, and from the Waterford Institute of Technology, Mr Wesley Roddy (19), Cloonlumney, Ballaghadereen, Co Roscommon.
More than 380 submissions, projects and ideas have been submitted to the National Millennium Committee for support from the £30 million in Exchequer funding provided by the Government for suitable projects.
The overall theme will be partnership between the Government, public bodies, the private sector and those working in the voluntary and community areas. Mr Brennan said there would be a number of major national projects. Initiatives for young people included committee support for workers and employers agree to donate their final hour's pay on December 31st to aid a number of children's charities and projects, and a project to have primary and secondary school pupils compile a national millennium book.
Schools will also be involved in the designing of millennium stamps. Boyzone's Ronan Keating, a member of the national committee, is writing a song, with proceeds going to charity.