The winners of the 2013 Rehab Athlone People of the Year Awards have been chosen. The eight winners will be honoured and presented with their awards at a gala evening in the Radisson Hotel on Friday 26th April. The compère for the evening RTÉ’s John Murray will introduce each of the eight winners and entertainment will be provided by Simon Casey and his 3 piece band.
The Rehab Athlone People of the Year Awards, now in its ninth year recognises those who have made outstanding contributions to their local community, as a member of a group or an individual. This year’s eight winners come from a wide range of backgrounds including sport, community, charity and individual achievement arenas and were nominated by readers of the Westmeath Independent.
Johnny Pettit, Area Manager, National Learning Network said, “These eight fantastic award winners join an elite group of previous winners representing many of our local unsung heroes who give of their time, expertise and dedication voluntarily to their communities. Their achievements, work and commitment to their local community is commendable and I would encourage everyone to come along to the gala award ceremony and support and honour our award winners”.
“People who attend the gala night are not only supporting the winners but are also supporting the work that Rehab does in Athlone through National Learning Network and RehabCare services.”
He added “People who attend the gala night are not only supporting the winners but are also supporting the work that Rehab does in Athlone through National Learning Network and RehabCare services.”
Veronica Cullinan, Community Services Manager, RehabCare, thanked the sponsors for their continued support saying “The Rehab Athlone People of the Year Awards continued success is dependent on the generosity of the Athlone Town Council, the Westmeath Independent, our eight award sponsors and indeed all of our many sponsors. Without them the awards would not take place and we are very grateful for their continued support. “
This year’s winners are as follows:
St. Brigid’s GAA Club of Kiltoom are being honoured for their achievement for winning the All Ireland Club Championship.Their commitment to excellence in sport, their dedication to achieving the highest accolade brings positivity to the area in a recession and shows what hard work and dedication can do. The redevelopment of their facilities in Newpark, Kiltoom, as well as winning three Senior Roscommon Football Championships and a Connacht title in 2006, and the appointment of a full time coaching officer are all testament to the tremendous success of St. Brigid’s. St. Brigid’s are providing members of the community, young and old, with a fantastic opportunity to exercise and socialise in excellent facilities.
Shane Lafferty, from Monksland, won a Gold medal at the European Transplant & Dialysis Games in Croatia in singles bowling, beating off stiff competition from representatives of 28 other countries. The games involved over 300 athletes from 28 countries throughout Europe. The European Transplant & Dialysis Games celebrate life through sport and promote organ donation. The Irish team consisted of 26 members including 17 men and 9 women who range in age from 18 to 74. The Transplant Team Ireland of which Shane was a member arrived home with 50 medals; 14 gold, 15 silver and 21 bronze. His considerable achievement despite diversity will be honoured by the People of the Year Awards among family and friends gathered to honour his success.
Jack Donohue, aged 19, is being honoured for his brave actions last year when he rescued a man from drowning. At 11pm on the 5th July a car crashed and plunged into Coosan Point, Athlone. When Jack Donohue arrived at the scene with his mother, Jack grabbed a lifebuoy and entered the water, without even thinking of himself. He swam out a considerable distance in the dark to the drowning man. He reached the car and opened the door and put the lifebuoy around the driver and pulled him out of the car and took him to safety where emergency services were waiting. The man made a full recovery. It is selfless brave acts like this that deserve our recognition and applaud.
The Athlone branch of the Irish Countrywomen’s Association (ICA) is honoured for the important role it has played in the lives of women in Athlone over the past 60 years. The ICA came to Westmeath when Ballinafid Guild was established in 1945. The Athlone Guild celebrates their 60 year anniversary this year . The organisation boasted hundreds of women in its ranks and provided a platform on which they could discuss issues that mattered and where they could develop their own creative and home based roles within their own communities. Membership had decreased in recent years, but with the RTÉ ICA Bootcamp programme the organisation has seen a revival highlighting the considerable skills the members of the ICA have and the contribution they have and continue to make to the fabric of family and community life. The ICA is about women having a voice and being heard; it is about support, support in the community and support in family life; it is about sharing and caring; it is about giving.
Damien Delany is honoured for his services to the local marine community and water safety. He has been involved in the Inland Waterways activities for many years. He has been instrumental in the IWAI Athlone Branch serving many roles - a former Commodore of the Lough Ree Yacht Club, a former Commodore of the Shannon Rally, a former Chairman of the Athlone Peoples Regatta, and is currently Lifeboat operations manager of the RNLI rescue service on Lough Ree. He has worked tirelessly for many years to establish a rescue service on Lough Ree and has co-ordinated the fundraising activities for the RNLI for years. 2011 saw the official opening of the RNLI’s 44th lifeboat station in Ireland and become a declared search and rescue asset on Lough Ree serving the counties of Longford Westmeath and Roscommon. Damien has played an active part in fundraising for the Royal Canal Amenity Group, particularly for the restoration of the western end of the Royal Canal, participated in campaigns for bridge clearance; power line clearance; adequate water levels; unobstructed navigations; etc to enhance the safety and pleasure of boating on the river Shannon. Boaters, anglers, sailors, pleasure cruisers, divers, swimmers, and all other water users are safer as a result of the installation of a lifeboat service on Lough Ree
John Butler a former Fianna Fail councillor and Mayor of Athlone is honoured for his volunteer work with Tidy Towns and Scouting Ireland. John is currently chairman of the Athlone Tidy Towns committee and works tirelessly to ensure Athlone improves its marks year on year. John has been responsible for thinking strategically about the tidy towns and changing its focus from just addressing litter. The concept of Tidy Towns has evolved from litter control to a wide range of activities, involving communities, schools and training groups and developing strong partnerships within the community spreading the responsibility and empowering all groups to address the towns appearance overall. John’s other passion and life long commitment is the scouts in Athlone. His name is synomonous with the scouts and his voluntary contribution to the association is commendable. In addition he has been instrumental in developing the superb Portlick Scouts Campsite, a park of 2.2 hectares of camping space with dry out facilities providing canoeing, kayaking, sailing, camping, archery, wall climbing, orienteering and a range of scouting activities for scouts from all over Ireland.
Tina Ellife is honoured for her work with the Irish Pilgrimage Trust. She plays an active part in Group 172 in South Roscommon that brings eleven young people to Lourdes every year. The group fundraise annually raising considerable sums to ensure all eleven get to travel to Lourdes for the Pilgrimage. The Group 172 has very close links with a group of cyclists from Shannonside Cycling that cycle annually and fundraises for the group. The Irish Pilgrimage Trust is a registered charity in Ireland, and for over 40 years the Trust has been travelling on pilgrimage and on holiday to Lourdes with young people with special needs from all over Ireland.
Mark Rohan, a former gaelic footballer with Castledaly,is a double Paralympic and World Champion Handcyclist. He trains 20-25 hours a week, and is an inspiration to all. His determination, focus and drive has seen him win many championships and accolades. He represents Ireland in paracycling. He has a series of amazing successes against the world’s best paracyclists, winning World Cup gold medals in Dubai and Kent, and European silver in Spain. He went on to take gold in the Paracycling World Championships in Canada, a first for Ireland and perhaps the greatest sporting highlight in Mark’s career was his Olympic wins in 2012. He is currently training from the next championships and has attracted national and international sponsorship to help him in his amazing career. Mark is a second time recipient of the People of the Year Awards such is his amazing achievements
The primary sponsor of this year’s awards was the Athlone Town Council in partnership with the Westmeath Independent.