This article is from page 28 of the 2008-04-01 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 28 JPG
THE efforts of four Ennis teenagers were recognised this week as Eddie McCarthy, Martin Molloy, Brian Mc- Donagh and Seamus Higgins from the Cloughleigh area, were awarded An Gaisce awards.
Eddie and Seamus are studying for Leaving Cert Applied at the Clare Youth Service in Ennis and Martin is preparing for Junior Cert at En- nis Community College and is also involved in projects with the Clare bolts mero a’s (een
The awards represents further en- dorsement of the work being done at Clare Youth Service after Minister of State Pat Carey held discussions with staff and students there over the
weekend.
The awards, which were presented to the young people by Minister of State Tony Killeen and hurling leg- end Davy Fitzgerald, recognised the personal challenges undertaken by the young people involved in four ar- eas – community, skills, physical and adventure.
“The young people really had to challenge themselves to achieve these awards. It requires commitment each week to work on the four sections and while the president’s award leader can guide and encourage the partici- pant, the real work is up to the young people themselves,” said Patrick Mc Mullin of Clare Youth Services.
Two of the young people Brian Mc- Donagh and Eddie McCarthy were
presented with silver awards. This was their second award as they were previous recipients of the bronze Gaisce. Seamus Higgins and Martin Molloy received bronze awards.
The young people hiked across the Burren, helped run programmes for younger members of their group and assisted in residential weekends.
They also worked on a community farm in France assisting in the feed- ing and care of the animals as well as helping to build traditional French ovens.
There was also the small matter of skill – for this, all the recipients com- pleted various stages of the British Horse Society riding tests and stable management programme. For physi- cal activity, the young people in-
volved themselves in achieving vari- ous levels in kayaking and canoeing.
An Gaisce or the President’s Award is an inspiring adventure into per- sonal development for young people aged between 15 and 25 years. The awards aim to cultivate personal development and encourage young people to set and accomplish their own personal challenges.
In reality it achieves much more – instilling confidence, encouraging team effort, inspiring dreams and fostering friendships.