Athletics: Niamh Whelan (Waterford)

OUR athletics award winner Niamh Whelan leads Ireland’s next generation of exciting sprinting talent.
Whelan had a stunning 2007 season. She won bronze in the 200m at the European Youth Olympics in Belgrade, set a new record in the intermediate girls’ 100m at the Irish Schools championships and had sprint doubles at those championships, the national juniors and all the under-age competitions she competed in. This year she had further success at the AAI indoor games and won her first senior championship gold medal in the 200m at the All-Ireland senior championships at Belfast’s Odyssey Arena.

Basketball: Orla O’Reilly (Cork)

ORLA O’Reilly’s success this year goes hand in hand with the rise of Team Montenotte Glanmire, the new leaders in ladies basketball in Ireland.
Her superb performances at point guard have been instrumental in the Cork outfit’s recent successes: last year she starred on the club’s U18 and U20 teams, both of whom won their national cup competitions. She’s continued her good run this year, with another U20 title. Given she’s already lined out for the club senior team, it’s onwards and upwards for this star, and no wonder, given brothers Niall and Colin have starred at national level.

Boxing: John Joe Nevin (Cavan)

2007 was a phenomenal year for John Joe Nevin from Mullingar.
He started by winning the national junior title, then came the U21 title and in December he landed the intermediate title.
In between he won a second gold medal at the Four Nations championships, won three golds in multi-nations competition and made the last eight at the world juniors. At the round robin tournament in Donegal he beat 2012 Olympic hopefuls from France, Germany and England on his way to another gold. He completed a clean sweep of all the national titles when he won the bantamweight crown at the national senior championships. As a result of that win JJ is in Italy today for the first of the European Olympic qualifying tournaments.

Camogie: Niamh Mulcahy (Limerick)

NIAMH Mulcahy made her name in 2007 helping Limerick to an unprecedented National League and Championship double.
With camogie Shannonside in the doldrums, the Ahane 18-year-old was instrumental in securing a League title in May against rivals Cork.
Then, the Limerick side achieved its greatest sporting accolade, winning the All-Ireland senior B championship - with Niamh playing a crucial role. Under intense pressure, she scored the equalising point from a 70m free in the All Ireland final and Limerick went onto win the replay. To cap a marvellous year, she also won a Munster minor medal.

Cycling: Sam Bennett (Tipperary)
MAYBE it's no coincidence that our cycling award winner comes from Sean Kelly’s hometown of Carrick-on-Suir.
But Sam Bennett is set to write his own name into the history books and made his first entry last year when he achieved the No 1 spot in Cycling Ireland's 2007 junior road rankings with 184 points - the highest individual total by any U18 rider since the rankings began.
The Corkman 3-Day, the John Drumm Memorial, and races in Tralee, Banteer, Limerick, Carlow, Midleton, Carrick-on-Suir and Dungarvan were among his successes in 2007. He was second overall in the junior tour and finished 18th in the European junior road race.

Gaelic Football: Paul Conroy (Galway)

PAUL Conroy is one of the most promising young Gaelic footballers in the country.
In 2007 he captained Galway to their first All-Ireland minor title in 21 years. In that campaign, he was often man of the match in crucial championship games where he was a powerhouse for his side at midfield. At club level too, he has been hugely instrumental in getting St. James to the top of underage football in Galway.
A second year business student at GMIT, he has been a key figure in helping his college to the Sigerson Cup quarter-finals.
Paul can’t be with us today as he is on Sigerson duty again UL in Limerick this afternoon.


Golf: Paul Cutler ( Derry)

BORN and raised in the golfing haven of Portstewart, Paul Cutler is regarded as one of the most promising young golfers in the country.
2007 was a particularly successful year for Cutler, who made his first appearance in a senior championship a memorable one when he defeated former three time junior sports star winner Rory McIlroy in the quarter-finals of the West of Ireland at Rosses Point.
Later in the year, he captured the Ulster Boys Championship and in September joined the elite ranks of those who have represented Ireland in the Home International Championship at Baltray and the Hugh Carey Cup in New York.

Handball: Aisling Reilly (Antrim)

AISLING Reilly has swept the board in juvenile handball and already has an All-Ireland Senior Doubles title to her name.
The St Paul’s star has enjoyed success in camogie and football with her club and county but it is in handball where she has climbed highest, taking All-Ireland, US and collegiate titles. After dominating the junior ranks, Aisling is about to embark on her first season concentrating solely on the senior grade, and looks destined for the very top.

Hockey: Amy Stewart (Armagh)

AMY Stewart was always destined to be a hockey star – it's in her blood. The 16-year-old has had a whirlwind couple of years showing that she is every bit as good as older sister Emma, herself an Irish Examiner Junior Sports Star three years ago.
Having played an instrumental part in Ireland U16 girls' bronze medal finish in the 2006 European Championships Amy went on to fire a brace on her debut for Ireland U18s against England last February. That performance brought the 15-year-old to the attention of coach Gene Muller, who handed Amy her first senior cap against France a month later. She became the youngest player to don the green shirt, a title held by her sister.

Horse Racing: Paul Townend (Cork)

IN his first season on the racecourse, the former champion pony rider could hardly have made a better start.
Once he had enjoyed his initial success aboard The Chip Chopman at Limerick in June, it was onwards and upwards for the 17-year-old.
His most important win came at the Galway Festival in July. He scored on the heavily-backed favourite, Emily Blake, in a contest which was covered live by RTE.
Paul finished the campaign with a highly creditable ten victories to his credit. Apprenticed to Willie Mullins, he is tall for a flat jockey and his future almost certainly lies over jumps.

Hurling: Noel McGrath (Tipperary)

NOEL MCGRATH joins the likes of Brian Corcoran, Sean Og O hAilpin, James Cha Fitzpatrick and Joe Canning in receiving this award.
But he is well equipped to be compared with such hurling greats.
Not yet 18 he has already won two All-Ireland minor hurling titles with Tipperary and played a leading role for his club, Loughmore-Castleiney, as they won their second Tipperary senior county title before capturing their first Munster crown last December.
On Sunday last, he was back in action in the thrilling All-Ireland club semi-final against Galway champions Portuma in Limerick.
Though his side lost, the future is certainly bright for McGrath - and Tipperary hurling.
Noel McGrath scored 1-4 in the Club championship semi-final at the weekend.

Ladies Football: Amanda Murphy (Cork).

CORK Ladies football starlet Amanda Murphy had a year to remember in 2007.
The business administration student kicked three points from half forward as the Rebelettes sealed an historic three-in-a-row of senior All-Ireland titles.
As well as completing her Leaving Cert exams in June, overcoming Mayo in the senior final in Croke Park in September to take, amazingly, her third All-Ireland medal at the age of 18, the Casteltownbere girl also starred in a minor Cork side that earned championship glory.

Paralympics: Luke Evans (Dublin)

THOUGH the youngest member of the Irish Paralympic senior soccer team, Luke Evans is also one of the most talented.
Evans, who turned 18 last month, proved that in the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup campaign in Rio de Janeiro last year.
The midfielder scored three goals in the tournament helping Ireland to the last eight - a result which secured qualification to this year’s Paralympic Games. But Beijing will not be the only high point of 2008 for the Dubliner and his team mates. In June Evans and his colleagues will represent the Republic at the European Championships when they play an exhibition game against Holland in Vienna.

Rugby: James Sandford (Armagh)

ULSTER has a proud tradition of providing Ireland with inspirational second row forwards for the international stage and 19-year-old UUJ student, James Sandford hopes to join that list. The Armagh teenager boasts an incredible underage CV captaining his former school The Royal School Armagh and Ulster Schools before wearing the skipper’s armband for two successive years with Ireland Schools. Last year, James was named Northern Bank Schools Player of the Year at the prestigious Ulster Rugby awards. James’ aspiration is to firstly win a senior contract with his beloved Ulster before hopefully landing full international honours.

Sailing: Annalise Murphy (Dublin)

OUR Sailing award-winner is Annalise Murphy from Dublin is following in the wake of her Olympian mother, Cathy who sailed for Ireland in Seoul 1988. A keen sailor since childhood, Annalise launched herself onto the International circuit in 2006 in the single-handed Laser class. That was the start of an intensive lifestyle change to a mix of school, gym and training afloat. At the World championship, she placed 62 in the senior fleet before achieving a top 50 Gold fleet standard at the European championship and then the top ten in the Youth World championship.
Her goal is to represent Ireland at the 2012 Olympic Games.


Snooker: Vincent Muldoon (Galway)

VINCENT Muldoon already has an Irish Senior Snooker Championship under his belt - not bad for a 17 year old.
He’s also got an impressive list of international achievements: he came third in the European Men’s Championships and received the nomination from the European Association for the World Tour, though this was controversially withdrawn later.
It’s a temporary setback: Muldoon has won every junior title in Ireland in recent years and has reached the semi-finals of the 2007 European Senior Championships and World U21s. He has also made it to the final of the European U19s for the past two years and is just back from Thailand, where he finished second in his group in the World Championships before illness got the better of him.

Soccer: Sean Scannell (Crystal Palace)

SEAN Scannell follows in the sizeable footsteps of Roy Keane and Damien Duff by winning our soccer award. Scannell, whose father Brendan is from Castleblaney, made his Championship debut with Crystal Palace last December against Queens Park Rangers.
Four days later he scored his first senior goal with a glorious chip over Sheffield Wednesday's stricken goalkeeper Lee Grant.
He’s not lacking on the international honours having featured with the Republic of Ireland’s U17 and U19 squads.
Now he’s looking to the future as Crystal Palace aim for the Premier League and Giovanni Trapattoni begins his senior managerial reign.

Swimming: Andrew Meegan (Dublin)

SWIMMER Andrew Meegan has been in record breaking mood over the last 12 months.
A fortnight ago Meegan set a new Irish senior record time of 15:53.33 in the 1500m freestyle at the Celtic Tri-Nations in Edinburgh breaking his own record set at the Junior Europeans in Antwerp, Belgium. 1500m records are his speciality. Last year he smashed Irish Olympian Kevin Williamson’s 31-year-old junior record.
His main stroke is the freestyle but is also impressive in the butterfly. Long-term he hopes to take part in the 2012 Olympics in London.