Awards posthumously honour inspirational Donal Walsh

Donal Walsh, the inspirational Kerry teenager who spent the last months of his life raising awareness of a “suicide epidemic”, was last night posthumously presented with the Outstanding Contribution to Public Debate award at the National Newspaper Awards.

The 16-year-old, who passed away in May following a long battle with cancer, came to prominence when he publicly begged young people who felt they had no choice but to take their own lives to reconsider their options and to think of the anguish those left behind would have to face.

Last night, the citation recommending him for the award pointed out that: “Some people live all their lives without ever acquiring a real sense of what they are about; Donal Walsh lived among us a mere 16 years and by the time of his parting had bequeathed us a wisdom to serve the ages.