Volunteer who rewards others gets own honour

A man who has been responsible for showering people with accolades for two decades was on the receiving end yesterday when he was lauded by the Lord Mayor of Cork.

Manus O’Callaghan, who has run the Cork Person of the Year awards for the last 20 years, was honoured at a civic reception in City Hall.

Lord Mayor Cllr Terry Shannon said he wanted to highlight Mr O’Callaghan’s immense contribution to the awards scheme.

And he also said it would be worth examining whether the awards could be adapted as a national honours scheme.

“It is very important to celebrate volunteerism and success, and this scheme has done just that,” Mr Shannon said.

“The people who have been nominated for this award over the years are not involved in the various organisations for the kudos. They do it to improve the quality of the lives of people in their communities.”

A modest Mr O’Callaghan said he viewed the honour as being for all the awards’ team.

“We set out to honour Cork’s greatest assets, its people. It also promotes the city and county and I hope we’ll continue with the awards for the next 20 years,” he said.

A number of past winners attended the event, including the very first, Sr Colette Hickey, who is now in her 90s. Also present was Adi Roche and Paddy O’Brien.

Meanwhile, it emerged yesterday that disability rights campaigner Joanne O’Riordan has been selected for a Cork Person of the Month award.

The 16-year-old from Millstreet — who recently spoke at the UN — was nominated by MEP Brian Crowley and her cousin, Denise O’Donoghue.

She was chosen to mark her positive and inspirational work in the disability rights area. Her name now goes forward with other monthly winners for possible selection as the Cork Person of the Year which will be presented by President Michael D Higgins on Jan 18 next.