It was not an everyday lunch for Tynaarlo alderman Miguel Ririhena and writer Anjet Daanje from Wijster. Today they were allowed to dine with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and many other well-known Dutch people.
Last January, the alderman was elected Best administrator of a small municipality in 2022. In May, Daanje received for her novel The song of stork and dromedary the Libris Literature Prize.
Today they were received with 24 other guests for lunch at Noordeinde Palace because they recently received a prize or other important award. During the Uitblinkerslunch they were allowed to join, among others, Russia correspondent Iris de Graaf, politician and director Johan Remkes and comedian Jochem Myjer.
In January, Ririhena won the prize for Best administrator of a small municipality, awarded by the journalistic platform Binnenlands Bestuur. To the great surprise of the alderman himself, he told RTV Drenthe at the time. According to him, the award was a team effort of the college and the entire municipal organization. “This is confirmation that we are on the right track.”
According to the voters, Ririhena has a ‘clear and well-founded opinion, he is an expert on his portfolio and he is decisively committed to Tynaarlo’, according to the jury report of the Ministry of the Interior. “He is seen as an accessible, transparent and involved alderman. Ririhena impresses voters by looking beyond the municipal boundaries and maintaining good contacts both within and outside the municipality.”