Mayor of Carlow presented six awards for service to the community

THE annual Carlow town mayoral awards took place recently in Carlow Town Hall when mayor Paul Doogue presented six awards to different organisations and people in recognition of their exceptional service to the community.

“It was a tough decision as there are so many wonderful and deserving organisations in Carlow, but I was honoured to give out the awards and pick the recipients,” said mayor Doogue.

Dance Republic Studios, a commercial children’s dance school on Staplestown Road, received an award for its immense fundraising efforts, which has seen it raise over €1.5 million in the 15 years since it opened. The award was also in recognition of the many children that it has trained to national and world-class levels and the success that these students have achieved in national and international competitions.

Aedeen O’Hagan, who founded the dance school Ballet Barn Carlow, which teaches ballet, modern theatre and contemporary dance, was recognised with an award for consistently training students to the highest level. A number of students were recently awarded excellence in technique and artistic expression and two students, Rachel Doogue and Chloe Darcy, were awarded the highest worldwide marks in their grade one and grade two ballet exams.

Sensei Patsy Whelan, who oversees Carlow Karate club, was given an award for his 40 years of service to the club. Mayor Doogue said: “Patsy Whelan took over the club 40 years ago and since then it has gone from strength to strength.”

Patsy has trained students who have represented Ireland all over the world, with the club’s success even being noted by president Michael D Higgins during his tenure.

Ben Woodhouse, the current acting chief fire officer, received an award on behalf of Carlow Fire Brigade. Mayor Doogue said: “Carlow Fire Services is one of the best fire services in the country. They have won national and world awards for rescue organisation, road traffic collisions and trauma.” Carlow Fire Brigade is the only fire service in Ireland to have achieved three ISO certifications, the ISO is an organisation that develops international standards for quality, environment, safety and information security.

Couple Eileen and Liam Lyons were presented with an award for a combined 90 years of service to Carlow community games. Both Eileen and Liam have held numerous voluntary positions within the organisation and have worked hard to make the games what they are today at a local, regional and national level. Liam is the current president of County Carlow Community Games.

Lastly, Anthony Heaney was given an award for having run the Facebook page ‘All About Carlow’ for the past ten years.

“Anthony has showcased Carlow all over the world and brings all kinds of news to thousands of people all over,” mayor Doogue said.

A large crowd attended the awards night and were offered refreshments after the awards were handed out.

Mayor Doogue would like to thank the council staff for all their help.