‘Unless you get up off your backside and get involved, you can’t criticise what other people are trying to do’

The new recipient of the Community Person of the Year award for Athboy, is a familiar face round the bustling town where he has lived and worked for the past 25 years.

The Dublin native who has effortlessly lent his time and indeed financial expertise for the betterment of the community, says he can’t however take all the credit.

“Winning the award isn’t all about me, it is for all the people that have been on different committees over the years, you can’t do things without those people,” Colm Brown says candidly.

“We are lucky here in the town. There are people who are involved in many different groups and whenever you need a hand, they will dig in and help out.”

“I have always felt that if you are involved in any group (or your children are), it is very hard to sit back on the side lines and then give out about it. Unless you get up off your backside and get involved in it, then you can’t really criticise what other people are trying to do.”

Originally from Finglas in Dublin, he was one of seven children who had a “great childhood” in the city surrounded by good neighbours and friends. He recalls too how his late parents, through their own actions and words instilled a great sense of community spirit and pride into all of them from an early age.

When Colm met and settled down with wife Debbie, they wanted however to move away from the bustle of Dublin. “We could have ended up in any part of Kildare or Meath,” he says, with proximity to Dublin still key at the time for work. As a young family – with son Richard and daughter Christine born two years apart amidst the move – the time to truly integrate into the community came when Debbie and himself set up their own accountancy practice in Athboy in 2004. “That saved so much time. It completely changed the work-life balance. If you don’t do a commute, it gives you about ten extra hours a week.”

And so, Colm set about putting this extra time to good use. His initial community connection came when his children got him involved in the Athboy-Autonne Villages Twinning Association, where a series of small villages located about 1 hour from Paris were paired with Athboy, through an EU initiative, to enable the two different cultures to mix.

“There have been great links with that over the years in things like teenage exchanges, farming exchanges, artist exchanges and adult exchanges,” from Athboy to Autonne Villages and vice versa which has been a very enjoyable experience for many.

Since then, Colm has also become involved with the Business Association in the town, now acting as chairperson and helping to introduce Athboy Town Vouchers since Covid times, which have been a successful initiative to encourage people to spend money in Athboy. One of the big annual events for the Business Association is organising the Christmas lights, which again encourages people to shop local. “It’s a very vibrant business town, so the idea is to keep promoting it as best we can,” Colm says. “It suffered for a while but there is a bit of life now and there are plans for new houses, which means new support for local activities and community groups.”

Through the years other groups that he has supported and lent his accountancy expertise to are the Parish Finance Committee and the local credit union. He is now also treasurer of the St Patrick’s Day committee, which showcased a fantastic parade for Athboy this year, with plans already afoot for 2023. “We need to book bands straight away. If you don’t have bands, it loses a bit of the razzamatazz,” he says.

As an avid writer, one of the most enjoyable groups that he is part of is the Athboy Writer’s Forum which he helped establish seven years ago. “I think it’s because it is so different to the day job,” he says. “Writing is good for my brain, as it straightens out my thoughts.” The group meets weekly in a relaxed setting to exchange ideas and read material and has read in nearby nursing homes, in ICA meetings and showcases work throughout the year in the Fair Green for others to enjoy.

Colm is undoubtedly keenly aware of the importance of community and very mindful that Athboy has been good to him – both personally and professionally – and has always been happy to give back. “If our kids were involved in something, we went and got stuck in and helped out and we benefited from that,” he says. “And I have always enjoyed helping out.”

Colm’s patience is evident, and it is not difficult to see how his kind, measured and calm manner all attract people to him for advice and assistance - both personally and professionally. The town of Athboy is in safe hands.