Recognising outstanding contributions, community impact and service excellence across local government and our councils.
The Northern Ireland Local Government Association (NILGA) is delighted to announce the launch of the 2025 Local Government Awards Programme.
The awards are designed to celebrate and recognise the exceptional contributions our councils make in their communities. The categories aim to highlight the dedication, hard work, and innovative approaches that councils bring to their communities every day, while also providing opportunities for local government staff and members to step forward and shine.
The awards include categories such as Best Initiative by a Councillor, Communications Campaign of the Year, Employee of the Year, Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Awards, among others. Council officers, councillors and local government partners from the 11 local councils in Northern Ireland are encouraged to submit nominations to showcase the outstanding achievements that often go unrecognised in our sector.
Speaking at the launch, NILGA President, Councillor Alison Bennington, said:
“The 1 April 2025 will be the 10th anniversary of the new councils being established, as we enter this momentous year, it’s important to recognise the positive changes that have taken place in local government. A huge amount of hard work and dedication has gone into modernising and improving councils to benefit local people and communities.
“The local government sector must continue to be innovative, ambitious and citizen focused, and the awards provide an opportunity to showcase this. Not only do they shine a spotlight on the dedication, passion, and commitment of council officers and elected members, but they also offer a vital learning platform and knowledge exchange, something NILGA fosters every day through our elected member and officer training programmes.
“On behalf of NILGA, I would encourage all those working within the local government sector to put forward their nominations as soon as possible, to participate and possibly be recognised for their outstanding contribution,” said Alison.
Nominees are judged by an independent panel. With finalists in each category getting an opportunity to go forward to the Awards Recognition Celebration at the Game of Thrones Studio, Banbridge, on Thursday 27 March 2025.
Application and guidance information is available on the NILGA website – https://www.nilga.org/about/local-government-awards-2025
The deadline for completed applications is 9 January 2025.
The 12 award categories are:
The supporting bodies who are contributing financially and administratively are:
