When it comes to people showing resilience, there are few to match Nelson Mandela. In an interview with the world media, Mandela said: “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”
Resilience and perseverance are just two of the many qualities needed when working in the arts. One such company that epitomised these qualities recently was the Involvement Centre in Kilkenny, who last Thursday were awarded first prize in the Craol Féile awards 2025. The award was for four radio documentaries produced by the centre in association with Lake Productions and Community Radio Kilkenny.
It was to be one of three awards for the dynamic Community Radio that night.
Craol is the national association for community radio in Ireland — it represents and supports community radio stations across the country.
Speaking at the event held in The Charleville Park Hotel, in Cork, Brian Greene, chair of Craol, spoke of the tremendous amount of work and dedication shown by the the Involvement Centre who along with Lake Productions and Community Radio, Kilkenny city scooped first prize in the ‘Access and Inclusion’ in the Writers in Profile category.
Ask anyone interested or involved in the arts what their main goal is and the answer is pretty universal. A good show that runs smoothly and pleases both performer and audience. Whether you’re an artist, actor, radio presenter or singer, that statement applies. This was the aim from Lake Productions and Kilkenny’s Involvement Centre when the initial meeting was held at Community Radio Kilkenny city with then station manager Declan Gibbons and Mick Cummins (sound engineer).
The proposal was that both the theatre company and the Involvement Centre would present four radio documentaries featuring Irish writers to be recorded and broadcast by Community Radio. Writers chosen included WB Yeats, John B Keane, Seamus Heaney and Patrick Kavanagh. Scriptwriters for the documentaries were Pat Griffin, Frank Cody and Ger Cody, while the cast was made up of the Involvement Centre and Lake Productions.
The Kilkenny Involvement Centre
The Kilkenny involvement centre is a warm, welcoming place where people with mental health difficulties can go to socialise, relax and simply have fun. The vision is to have a base where people who have, or have had, mental health difficulties, their families or friends, can drop in at specified times to meet other people who are on their recovery journey. The philosophy is recovery focused, with the hope to create a positive environment, where people can support each other in an informal setting.
A big undertaking
To mount this project was not for the faint hearted and no-one underestimated the enormity of the task. The first step was to choose the writers that were to feature in the series. Then over a six to ten month period three people from the community set about scripting the documentaries. Each script was cast, and over another 8 month period rehearsals took place.
The concept from the beginning was to look at the writers that were chosen- Seamus Heaney, Patrick Kavanagh, John B Keane and W.B Yeats – and to determine what their artistic legacy was, and how they would be remembered. All of the above included the input from the Involvement Centre.
Radio experience
Community radio came into its own. Firstly, the cast were allowed access to the station to rehearse, which after three or four visits made everyone feel a bit more relaxed. Mick Cummins who recorded each documentary took time out before each recording to meet with the actors. He spoke of everything from the weather to sport which lessened the nerves and tensions for all. As each group entered the recording area, Cummins made all feel relaxed and impressed on everyone that if a mistake was made he would simply do it again. And yes mistakes were made. And yes edits were made. But all this was done with patience and understanding. His actions were instrumental in allowing those of a nervous disposition perform in a relaxed and tension free environment.
Second gold
The success in Charleville didn’t end there. Another gold was awarded to Community Radio Kilkenny City in the ‘About the Town’ section. Accepting the award were mother and son Mags and Sam Lynch.
Station manager Paul Dunne was obviously as proud as punch. “In my short time at Community Radio in Kilkenny, it is obvious that all volunteers have a massive commitment in serving their listeners.” Mr Dunne went on to say that it was a great sense of joy to see the many different sections of the community that are served by local radio. “We definitely will be looking at similar projects in the new year,” said Paul.
As the night came to a close, the Involvement Centre, Lake Productions and Community Radio Kilkenny were given a special achievement award for an outstanding submission for their work on the radio documentaries.
To mark the win, cast and friends gathered at the Involvement Centre on Colliers Lane where manager David Dwyer welcomed all. David spoke of the wonderful achievement and the pride it brought to the centre. Mr Dwyer took time to remember Kathy Norris who was part of the project but who had since died. Previous artistic work to come from the Involvement Centre include two radio plays and three books of poetry (in conjunction with the Recovery College) and under the guidance of T.AS.K.
