A GIANT 40-foot Santa brought Christmas cheer to a community in Corbally, County Limerick, today (Saturday).
Towering over houses, the community-funded Santa towered as a beacon of festive fun for families in preparation for the arrival of the real Santa on Christmas Eve.
Dressed as Mr and Mrs Claus, Vivienne and Glen Campbell welcomed their neighbours and friends to their ‘Santa on the Green’ grotto in Park Gardens to promote Christmas community spirit.
“We’re just trying to bring community spirit back into the community. It’s been lost for a while, we’ve all grown up and now we’ve got kids of our own, so we’re trying to build a community again,” said Ms Vereker-Campbell.
The Corbally mother of two went door to door with her two young sons, Charlie and Conor, to build support for the local initiative.
“We built a WhatsApp group and went from there. So this is the first ever Santa on the green. As I said, we just want to build back up the community spirit and bring the kids all together.”
Eoghan O’Byrne, principal of St Mary’s National School, said the event was also brought about with the help of Moyross entrepreneur Jamie Daly, hailing the operation as a “major success”.
“We’ve given out 200 selection boxes sponsored by local residents, so I suppose we were trying to build a bit of a new spirit in the area where there always has been a huge presence but which kind of filtered away,” said Mr O’Byrne.
“So, it’s up to us as the younger generation to create that community spirit and hold these events on an annual basis.
“It was great to see people here today, it’s building an event where everyone feels welcomed and appreciated. I hope it will become an annual event. Well that’s the plan.”
