Portlaoise has been one of the fastest growing towns in Ireland with great connections to the rest of the State. There is an extremely strong community spirit which can only be of benefit to the county.
Since I was in secondary school I have been mindful of the Latin expression “mens sana in corpore sano” which means “a healthy mind in a healthy body” and it was this philosophy which led me to establishing the Laois Sports Forum in 1996/97.
At that time I was temporary county manager and we had commenced the process of building the Dunamaise Arts Centre. I felt it very important that the people of Laois should be afforded maximum opportunities for both physical and intellectual improvement.
The Laois Sports Forum was the product of a national process aimed at getting more people involved in sport and at trying to fully utilise the many existing sporting facilities.
This lead to the Local Sports Partnership Programme which was developed to “create a national structure to co-ordinate and promote the development of sport at local level”.
In Laois it was led by Laois County Council and under the guidance of its co-ordinators, currently Caroline Myers, and a board of directors of which I am a member, we have made excellent progress. We work closely with all relevant sporting and cultural organisations and groups as well as Laois county council and the HSE.
Indeed, Laois was among the first counties to have a full time sports officer and leisure centres in Portlaoise and Portarlington are models of excellence.
I am fully confident that Portlaoise is ready and willing to play an active role in the Healthy Town project and I urge everyone in the town, and the surrounding area to get involved in the eight week programme.