Offaly woman to be honoured at volunteer awards

Offaly’s Nicola Lalor will receive nationwide recognition for her years of dedicated volunteer work with Shinrone Coolderry Community Games at next week’s virtual Federation of Irish Sport Volunteers in Sport Awards ceremony, supported by EBS.

Nicola has dedicated 27 years to the Community Games in her area. She has introduced children from across the Shinrone and Coolderry areas to a host of different sports and activities that they can take part in.

Throughout her time, she has ensured every single child has been offered equal opportunity to engage in the various sports and cultural activities with emphasis placed on the importance of sportsmanship, enjoyment, confidence, developing friendships and creating lasting memories.

Nicola dedicates hours of her time into being a teacher, trainer, mentor, costumes and wardrobe organiser and - especially during the last 18 months - an IT expert, to ensure the Community Games experience is a fun and enjoyable one for all involved.

The Volunteers in Sport Awards celebrate the contributions of the band of volunteers across the country who give their time to Irish sport and physical activity every year. This equates to approximately 37.3 million hours of volunteering across Ireland’s 13,000 registered sports clubs and associations and, according to Sport Ireland's 2021 'Researching the Value of Sport in Ireland' report, is worth an estimated €1.5bn to the exchequer.

Throughout September and October members of the public, sports clubs and governing bodies were invited to nominate an individual whose contribution to sport and physical activity in Ireland has made a real difference to their community, club or county.

The nominations and award recipients were selected by a judging panel consisting of 12 individuals drawn from sports administration, the volunteer community and media, and included former Director General of the GAA, Paraic Duffy, RTÉ broadcaster Marie Crowe and Gaisce CEO Yvonne McKenna.

In addition to the 32 county-level award winners, Amina Moustafa, a volunteer across many different sports including football, basketball and swimming, received the overall Outstanding Achievement Award for her incredible service to the promotion of sport amongst women of diverse ethnic backgrounds, as well as her continued support of Sport Against Racism Ireland (SARI).

Máire Allen and Jacqueline McCormack have also received a Special Recognition Award for their amazing work with Roscommon Special Olympics Club. They have dedicated their time tirelessly over the last number of years and more recently, in the face of the challenging circumstances caused by Covid-19, did everything to ensure the club’s members remained fit and active throughout the various lockdowns.

Pádraic Kearney (RIP) has been honoured with a Special Recognition Award for his commitment to Gaelic Games in Adare GAA Club (Limerick). Pádraic was incredibly committed to his community, with his volunteerism going far beyond sport. His untimely passing earlier this year has been felt by everyone in the club, especially the younger members, who Pádraic coached for many years.

Speaking about the awards, CEO of the Federation of Irish Sport, Mary O’Connor extended warm congratulations to all of this year’s recipients.

She said: “Despite another very challenging year for sport, we have once again seen how important volunteering has been to communities across Ireland. We have an enormous amount of gratitude for the army of volunteers who have ensured that sport could take place in a safe and controlled manner. Whether it be on pitches, courts, tracks, pools or even community halls across the country, the volunteers are always there to make sure sport and physical activity continues to take place around Ireland. It gives me immense pride to be able to recognise so many of these volunteers at next week’s virtual Volunteers in Sport Awards.”

Managing Director of EBS, Paul Butler, commented: “EBS is delighted to partner with the Federation of Irish Sport once more to honour and recognise the everyday heroes around Ireland who make sure sport happens every day. EBS has been involved in local communities around Ireland for over 80 years and we are delighted to showcase the tremendous work these volunteers do for sport throughout their communities. These volunteers truly are the backbone of Irish sport, and we are proud to support them.”

The awards will be streamed live each evening from 7pm on the Federation of Irish Sport’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/federationofirishsport/ with the awards schedule listed below:

*Tuesday, December 7: Leinster and Special Recognition Award

*Wednesday, December 8: Munster, Connacht and Special Recognition Award

*Thursday, December 9: Ulster and Outstanding Achievement Award.