Garda awards honour young people’s contribution to community

More than 180 young people have been honoured for contributions to their local communities at the Garda national youth awards on Tuesday.

Thirty awards were presented to individuals or groups of young people across the country as part of the annual awards.

The awards recognised work helping the homeless community, promoting farm safety, supporting the elderly, and charity fundraising efforts.

Speaking at the online awards ceremony, Garda Commissioner Drew Harris said: “Since the pandemic began, young people have made an outstanding contribution to the country’s efforts in stopping the spread of Covid-19 by doing things like making PPE and assisting those self-isolating.”

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Those receiving awards included Granard Youth Club, who held a three-day event to promote a more inclusive attitude to refugees, ahead of the arrival of a group of Syrian refugees in their locality.

The Dodder Sea Scouts set up a food collection drive in aid of the homeless and the Capuchin Day Centre in Dublin city.

A number of groups in Cos Clare, Kerry, and Tipperary were honoured for efforts at raising farm safety awareness.

A group of transition year students in Magh Erne College, Co Donegal received an award for work helping older residents in their community to better understand technology.

Niamh McCann (19), from Stepaside, south Dublin, was one of the winners of an individual award for raising awareness about Asperger’s syndrome.

Ms McCann recorded a TEDx video about the difficulties girls diagnosed with the condition faced, which has been viewed over 500,000 times.

Speaking after receiving her award, she said the acknowledgement “has given me the confidence and encouragement to keep speaking up and trying to make a change where it matters”.