This article is from page 68 of the 2013-12-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 68 JPG
IT was a case of lucky 13 for the people of Shannon on Thursday night last – the number who were honoured by Shannon Town Council as part of its annual Liosta na Laochra civic awards initiative that took place in Sean Lemass Library.
Broadcasters, journalists, athletes, kick-boxers and All-Ireland under 21 and senior winning hurler Aaron Cunningham were among those presented with awards by Mayor of Shannon Greg Duff.
Each year Shannon Town Council honours residents from the community who have achieved national or international recognition or have achieved their national/international recognition with a club, society or organisation operating within the functional area of Shannon Town Council.
The award winners were broadcasters/journalists Valerie Sweeney, Aisling O’Loughlin, Rachel English and Orla Walsh; All-Ireland winning athletes from Shannon Athletic Club; Geariod McMahon, Colin Curran, Dylan O’Brien and Seamus McMahon; medal winners at the World Kickboxing Championships and members of Shannon Kickboxing Club in Leona O’Shea, David Ryan, Caimin Murphy and Darren McNamara as wll as Aaron Cunningham.
The Mayor of Shannon noted that “the awards winners have brought great pride to the Shannon community through their achievements by their achievements in their chosen sports and professional careers”.
On the night civic honours were also awarded to Clare Civil Defence and EI Electronics. Clare Civil Defence were awarded a civic honour in recognition of their ongoing voluntary work on behalf of the communities in Clare including Shannon.
“The assistance of the Civil Defence in the organisation of the St. Patricks Day parade each year is much appreciated,” said Mayor Duff, while he also praised “the tireless voluntary work of the civil defence over the last number of years, especially during the severe weather incidences that have effected Ireland”.
EI Electronics celebrated their 50th year in business earlier this year. The company manufacture detector alarms from their facility in Shannon, a landmark that was honoured by the town council in recognition of “the much needed employment the company brought to local people” but they also because of the company’s generous sponsorship of community organisations and events.