New scheme to award sports clubs’ volunteers

A NEW national awards scheme honouring those who volunteer their time in sustaining and developing sport in Ireland got off the ground yesterday when Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism John O’Donoghue launched the official nomination form and guidelines for the ‘National Awards to Volunteers in Irish Sport’.

The Awards will honour eight individuals who are representative of the 400,000 people who volunteer their time and effort to sport in Ireland each year through their involvement with sports clubs and organisations the length and breadth of the country.

Minister O’Donoghue called on sports organisations throughout the country to submit nominations for the Awards, expressing his hope that the new scheme will raise the profile of volunteers whom he described as the “lifeblood of sport in Ireland”.