The 2016 Donegal Sports Star Awards are being held tonight in the Mount Errigal Hotel – and we’re doing live updates here throughout the night!
By Chris McNulty, Donegal Sport Hub
***Due to technical issues, updates will be on Donegal Sport Hub here: Donegal-sports-star-awards ***
Councillor Terence Slowey, the Chairperson of Donegal County Council, the main sponsors of the Donegal Sports Star Awards, is addressing the audience now.
We’re just about to kick-off, throw-in, tip-off, serve….get underway with awards.
And now, we eat….Back after dessert for more updates!
Special Athlete award winner: All the simmers from the Nemo Special Olympics Swim Club in Ballyshannon have been given this award after being nominated individually. Cormac Sweeney, Eoin Rooney, Ethan Daly and Louise Lennon are the winners. Lovely touch. Well done all.
Rugby award winner: Irish international Nora Stapleton, who is a key player for the Girls in Green and who hails from Fahan, takes the oval ball award and she has been named on the panel this year again,
Darts award winner: John Flood led the county mens seniors to glory in Holland.
Cue Sports award winner: Sean Devenney from North West Snooker Club, The 15-year-old finished number 2 in the rankings and was number 10 on the intermediate rankings list. He also represented Ireland and took part in a number of internationals.
Clay Pigeon Shooting award winner: Joe O’Donnell from Carrigans and St Johnston Gun Club. A memorable season for Joe, who won several big Championships in 2016.
Camogie award winner: Rhianna McDermott of Burt takes the prize. She captained the county minors in 2016 and also led Burt to glory for the second year in a row. Burt compete in the Derry Junior League and McDermott was to the fore.
Boxing award winner: Brett McGinty from St Johnston is the winner of this award. The St Johnston man won another Irish title and captained his country in international Championships. McGinty is one of Irish boxing’s rising stars.
Basketball award winner: Sean McGettigan from the North Star Club in Derry wins this award. They reached the National Cup quarter-finals. he was top-scorer for the U18s as a point guard.
Badminton award winner: Another Olympian, Chloe Magee, wins this award. She set a record in becoming Donegal’s first ever triple Olympian in 2016.
Athletics award winner: Brendan Boyce. Another fine year for the Milford man who represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio when he came 19th in the men’s 50k race walk. His mother, Margaret, accepts the award.
The first award of the night is the athletics award.
Neil Martin says: “It was another great year for sport in the county. We have over 700 people here and 200 nominees – that is testament to the success if these awards. To be nominated here is an achievement in itself.
“Our exclusive sponsors are Donegal County Council and we welcome their representatives. The involvement with our local authority is recognition of the key element sport plays in Donegal.
“This is a special night when sporting people come together to honour individuals and teams. It is not all about the winners, but about participation and volunteers. Without them we wouldn’t have clubs.
“We have a really dedicated committee who have done so much work – and they really deserve a round of applause.”
We have a standing ovation for the special guest, Patsy McGonagle as we await the address of Neil Martin, Chairperson of the Donegal Sports Star Awards committee.
Record numbers in attendance tonight – 730 are here. Crowd is so big it’s split through two rooms in the hotel.
We’ll be having ten awards before the meal – not good news for the hungry among us!
And we’re underway. Chris Ashmore, as always, is our master of ceremonies. “On a night like this we can reflect on some great moments – and a marvelous year,” Chris says.
Around 730 guests will be in attendance
Irish Athletics Team Manager Patsy McGonagle is the special guest fpr the 41st running of the Awards, which are again sponsored by Donegal County Council
The Ballybofey man filled the role last year at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
It was his fifth time at the Olympics and his fourth as the manager of the Athletics Team, having led the team to Sydney 2000, Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
