Offaly Person of Year nominees revealed

The Offaly Association in Dublin has revealed its list of nominees for the 2012 Offaly Person of the Year award. The outright winner (see list of nominees and short biographies below) will receive his/her award at the association’s annual dinner dance at the Red Cow Moran Hotel in Dublin on Saturday, April 6. Tickets for the same event are expected to go on sale shortly.

 

Nominees in the running for Offaly Person of the Year 2012

Andy Gallagher

Andy Gallagher served Offaly hurlers as a player, selector and manager almost uninterrupted over a 40 year period. During that time the county won nine Leinster and three All-Ireland titles. Andy is also one of Offaly’s leading GAA administrators and is currently assistant treasurer of the county board. In his previous role as treasurer he played a central role in the impressive redevelopment of O’Connor Park in Tullamore.

Anne Mulvey RIP

Anne sadly passed away on Christmas Day 2011. She has been nominated for this award however for her lifelong work with St Vincent de Paul helping the poor and underprivileged in the Birr area. Anne joined St Brendan’s conference of the SVP in 1985 and became president of the conference in 1995. She was instrumental in the opening of the SVP shop and in many other ventures, always looking out for the needs of poor, lonely or socially-deprived people and always speaking on their behalf. She is very much missed by a community that is bereft by her loss.

Ann Larkin and Mary Hoctor

Ann and Mary have been nominated for their work and professionalism as community welfare officers. The two are highly spoken of by those they care for in the community. They give hope to those who need it most. Outside of their work Ann and Mary contribute to the local community - Mary in the Tullamore Youth Club and Ann with Ballycumber GAA.

Brendan Killeavy

Sinn Fein councillor Brendan Killeavy was first elected in 2009. He has been nominated for this award in particular for his work with the disadvantaged. He has shown himself to be committed to improving the living and working conditions of people in the local area and has been described as a hard working public representative.

Camillus Boland

“The Man with the Horse”, Camillus was in his day a keen and accomplished sports man. Diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2002, since then he has been living a productive life writing poetry, writing a book and even recording music. So far Camillus has published his book “Reflections on Life” and has written and recorded CDs “The Simple Times” and “Step Back in Time”. His material, which draws on life experiences good and bad, has been described as uplifting and inspiring.

Clara Ballad Group

The Clara Ballad Group has won a remarkable five Scor All-Ireland titles in the ballad group discipline. Having already sung in Aras an Uachtarain and in front of over 45,000 people in Croke Park, the group is the most successful to have taken part in the GAA Scor finals spanning over 40 years of competition. In 2012 the group, which includes John Scanlon, Paul Scanlon, Aisling Cornally, Maura Eivers and Colette Rabbette, were once again crowned victorious at the Scor finals in INEC Killarney.

The Cleary Family

The Cleary family are behind the Glenisk Organic Ireland business based in Newtown, Killeigh that was established in 1987 and is an offshoot of another family business, Tullamore Dairies. Glenisk is based on the farm that raised 14 children, who now continue the running of the business. Since the mid-90s Glenisk has pioneers the organic yoghurt and milk market in Ireland. The company currently employs 50 staff and sources milk from 40 organic dairy farms and ten organic goat farms across the country. The business has been transformed into an international success story producing a growing range of environmentally conscious and premium quality organic dairy produce utilising fully certified Irish organic milk as well as providing local employment.

Danny Owens

The current Kilcormac-Killoughey manager guided the club to its first county title in 2012 and subsequently to the All-Ireland club championship final. Danny won All-Ireland hurling medals with Offaly in 1981 and 1985. He also captained the side to its only league title in 1991. Danny entered the field of politics as a local councillor and eventually rose to the position of Cathaoirleach of Offaly County Council. In this role he was on hand to greet President Barack Obama on his historic visit to Moneygall in 2011.

Denis Duggan

In his role as a regional development manager at Shannon Development, Dennis was acutely aware that Offaly performs badly in national statistics in terms of computer literacy, start up technology enterprises and third level participation. With this in mind he was instrumental in setting up a ‘Coder Dojo’ programme club in Birr – a platform where children are teaching children, parents are becoming mentors and everyone is having fun. This has been a remarkable success and already there is a waiting list of people hoping to take part. Denis has shown passion, drive and enthusiasm in securing the support and involvement of a diverse group of volunteers.

Freda Kinnarney

Nominated for her involvement with the Tullamore Show as the show secretary, Freda works tirelessly in fulfilling her role and has contributed massively to its phenomenal success. Freda is also noted for her good humour and positivity and has contributed hugely in making the Tullamore Show one of the country’s major annual events.

Geraldine Byrne

Recently retired and greatly missed as principal of St Joseph’s national school, for over 40 years Geraldine has been a truly inspiring advocate for generations of children in Arden View and Tullamore. Her leadership embodied the school motto of “every child, every chance, every day”. St Joseph’s was one of the first schools outside of Dublin to have a home/school liaison office and to offer parent classes and breakfast clubs.

John Grennan

John Grennan works in the agri-trading business and family owned business J Grennan & Sons is a well known company. The family have been involved in farming for many generations and trading since 1878. The business has developed from very small, solely retail beginnings, into one of the leading importers, manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers of farm inputs in Ireland. John provides vital employment locally to dozens of people as well as bringing indirect benefits to the local economy. The “Nugget” brand which was founded 20 years ago is known all over the midlands. He also does charity work for the less fortunate in South Africa and is known as someone who doesn’t seek acclaim or attention.

Johnny Butterfield

Johnny Butterfield was first elected to Offaly County Council in 1967 and held his seat until 1999 before reclaiming it in the local elections of 2004.
He has also campaigned on a number of issues over the years including farming and housing through his involvement in Macra na Feirme and more recently as chairman of the Mid-Offaly Housing Association.

Jim Bermingham

Jim is a Banagher man turned Dublin publican whose pub on Dorset Street has been a home-from-home to countless Offaly people for the past 60 years. The Bermingham name will always be associated with Offaly GAA and many joyous occasions at Croke Park over Jim’s time in the pub trade, when he has played the perfect host for pre-match warm up sessions and post game celebrations.

Fr Liam Lawton

Edenderry’s Fr Liam Lawton is an internationally renowned singer and composer. In 2003 he was signed to the EMI label and his first album in 2004 - “Another World” - featured the likes of Brian Kennedy, the Celtic Tenors, Fionnuala Sherry, Moya Brennan, Eimear Quinn and Roisin O’Reilly and went double platinum. Liam has recorded 14 albums to date and has achieved platinum status for his recordings. His nationwide tours have been hugely successful and he has sold out the National Concert Hall on numerous occasions. At the International Eucharistic Congress held in Dublin last year, Fr Liam performed in front of 75,000 people in Croke Park.

Mary Walters

Mary set up the Irish Sarcoidosis Support network in 2006 following her sister’s death from the condition. She has worked since voluntarily looking after many sufferers and their families. She has campaigned for greater recognition and funding for the disease and has worked to raise over €50,000 for research into the disease. There is now an expanding support network across the country with groups now having been launched in several other major towns.

Niall Murphy

Rhdoe man Niall has done significant fundraising for Irish Autism Action. In April 2012 he ran 100km as part of his “100k for 100k” drive to raise €100,000 for the charity. In October last he ran a gruelling non-stop 131 mile run from Sligo to Dublin and raised close to €35,000. All this was carried out while holding the busy Offaly GAA PRO role in 2012 and performing his duties with great aplomb.

Ollie Hayes and Henry Healy

The Moneygall publican Ollie Hayes came to world prominence due to the Barack Obama connection with the village. It was in Ollie Hayes’ pub that President Obama and his wife Michelle stopped off for refreshments on their historic visit. Since then the bar has become a landmark in the midlands.
Henry Healy, the eighth cousin of US President Barack Obama, came to worldwide attention during the President’s historic visit to his ancestral homeplace. Since then both men have been a great ambassadors for the south Offaly village and continue to keep the locality in the limelight.

Pat Smullen

Rhode jockey Pat Smullen is a six-time winner of the Irish Flat Jockey’s Championship and previously was a winner of the Budweiser Irish Derby and Irish St Leger, which saw him honoured as Texaco Sport star of the Year for racing in 2004. Pat rode his first winner in 1993, his first Grade One winner four years later and his first classic was his maiden St Leger success in 2001. In 2010, he won the Ascot Gold Cup and the Irish 1,000 Guineas as well as retained his Irish Flat Jockey’s Championship once again. He continues to be one of the country’s elite jockeys and rightly ranks alongside any of Offaly’s sporting greats.