The Mayo man who campaigned for third-level education in his county has been recognised by his own. Not that Mr Paddy McGuinness would claim Mayo citizenship, given that his roots are in Monaghan.
However, this trace of the north-east in his blood did not disqualify him from being nominated Mayo Person of the Year 2000. He was chosen by the Muintir Mhaigh Eo, or Mayo Association, adjudicating team for the "vision and leadership" he brought to all the causes with which he has been involved.
One of these lasted 18 years, resulting in the establishment of a regional technical college in Castlebar. That campaign "challenged the political establishment and structures", according to the judges' citation. "It was a campaign that required Paddy McGuinness to contest the Mayo West by-election in June, 1994. His 6,275 first preference votes made the same establishment finally sit up and recognise Mayo's case."
Part of the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, the campus at Castlebar bears a commemorative stone dedicated to the community's role in its establishment.
Mr McGuinness worked for An Post initially, but branched out to set up his own business. He was a director of the Castlebar International Song Contest, became a member of the Castlebar Urban District Council, was involved with the traders' association and was a president of the chamber of commerce.
When Travenol, now Baxter, was threatened with closure, Mr McGuinness was credited with leading the battle to stave off the closure of the pharmaceutical plant.
When the local bacon company, then the town's industrial mainstay, shut, he tried to "save as much as possible from the wreckage".
It was largely due to his initiative that the Castlebar Community Development Association was set up, while the Moneen Enterprise Centre now provides industrial units which have helped to create employment. "Despite the demands on time that running his own business involved, he gave unstintingly of himself to a variety of local causes," the judges state.
They also recognised the efforts of a community centre in Bohola during the award ceremony in Dublin last Friday night. With a population of just 1,000, Bohola "has shown what is possible with dedication, hard work and community spirit - all in the best traditions of the Irish meitheal," they said, when bestowing it with the Mayo Meitheal of the Year Award 2000.