GAISCE AWARDS:AFTER A morning at the National Stud, the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, performed a solo engagement at the presentation of Gaisce Awards at Farmleigh.
At the reception, he met award recipients and current participants in the programme from both sides of the Border.
The award is Ireland’s national challenge award programme for young people aged between 15 and 25, and is the Irish equivalent of the Duke of Edinburgh awards in Britain.
Prince Philip was presented with a framed stamp to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the President’s Award, as well as framed silver and gold coins minted by the Central Bank for the anniversary. “Are they legal tender?” he asked, to the amusement of the assembled guests.
All the young people who attended the reception, which was also attended by Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald, were bronze, silver or gold award winners from Cork, Sligo, Derry, Enniskillen and Dublin.
Prince Philip said it was very nice to know that so many young people were involved in the President’s Award and getting so much pleasure and encouragement from it.
Doing the groundwork to achieve the award might seem “pretty awful” at the time but, like all things, it was wonderful when it was stopped, he said.
“So when you have got your gold award, you can bask in it for the rest of your lives. It is very valuable,” he said.
More than 17,000 people in Ireland have participated in the awards scheme that works on the basis of a personal challenge set by an individual.
Chairman of Gaisce’s council and a former governor of the Bank of Ireland, Dr Laurence Crowley, said Prince Philip’s untiring commitment to the Duke of Edinburgh awards, as founder and as patron, was admirable.
He said President Mary McAleese, as an outstanding patron for the past 14 years, had assisted greatly in the exponential rise in participants in Ireland.
Gaisce’s director of development John T Murphy said Prince Philip first visited Ireland in November 1998 to launch a Gaisce event to celebrate the millennium. He made a second visit in April 2006 to help Gaisce celebrate its 21st anniversary.
