The Ladies Gaelic Football Association has announced the 2023 Glenveagh Homes LGFA Volunteer of the Year award winners.

Glenveagh Homes is the new sponsor of the awards, which acknowledge winners in ten categories.

This partnership builds on the already strong relationship between the LGFA and Glenveagh Homes, who are also the Association’s Gaelic4Girls programme sponsor.

The awards will be presented at Croke Park on Friday, February 9th.

The LGFA National Volunteer of the Year awards scheme is now in its seventh year and the 2023 winners are as follows:

  • Young Volunteer of the Year – Dúana Coleman (Pádraig Sairseil, Co. Antrim)
  • PRO of the Year – Siobhan McCloskey (Emyvale, Co. Monaghan)
  • Local Journalist of the Year – Daragh Nolan (Leinster Leader)
  • School Coach of the Year – Sean Costello (Dominican College, Griffith Avenue, Dublin)
  • Club Coach of the Year – Aine Reilly (Convoy, Co. Donegal)
  • Club Committee Officer of the Year – Deirdre Colgan (St. Margaret’s, Co. Dublin)
  • County/Provincial Committee Officer of the Year – Lisa Walsh (Co. Cork)
  • International Volunteer of the Year – Pat Doab (Celtic Cowboys, Austin, Texas, USA)
  • Volunteer Hall of Fame – Michael O’Loughlin, (Mountmellick Sarsfields, Co. Laois)
  • Overall Volunteer of the Year (Lulu Carroll award) – Margaret Buckley (St. Valentines, Co. Cork)

The Overall Volunteer of the Year, Margaret Buckley, from the St Vals club in Cork, will receive the Lulu Carroll award, named after the late Lulu Carroll, who was a 2001 All-Ireland senior medallist with Laois.

Lulu, who passed away in 2007, was a committed servant to Ladies Football at club and county levels, and one of the game’s most popular and well-known figures.

A former All-Star recipient, she also won eight Leinster titles with Laois, along with six county senior titles and a provincial crown at club level with Timahoe.

Margaret Buckley is a worthy winner of the Lulu Carroll Award, and her work with the St Vals Ladies Football Club is described as “simply unquantifiable.”

Her volunteering has spanned over 20 years and she is a person synonymous with the St Vals club.  She has served in various roles with her club and is she is the epitome of everything that you would look for in a volunteer.

The LGFA’s Volunteer Hall of Fame winner is Michael O’Loughlin, a stalwart of the Mountmellick Sarsfields club in county Laois.

Michael has been involved with the Sarsfields club since its beginnings in 1995.

The club won three Leinster Senior titles during Michael’s tenure as club secretary, which spanned a quarter of a century.

Michael has also served as Laois county board secretary and provincial delegate for many years and is known throughout the province as a leader in the development of Ladies’ Football.

“We are hugely excited to honour our 2023 Glenveagh Homes LGFA National Volunteer of the Year award winners, and to welcome on board Glenveagh Homes as the official sponsor of the awards,” said LGFA President Micheál Naughton.

“Volunteers are the driving force behind our Association and it’s only right and fitting that we should acknowledge their work and their impact within their local communities.”

“We received a huge volume of entries and whittling down that long list to ten award winners was a difficult task, as the quality of nominations was extremely high.

“I wish to thank the people who took the time to nominate and we are now very much looking forward to our awards ceremony at Croke Park on Friday February 9.”

“This is a very special date in our annual calendar and it is wonderful to have Glenveagh Homes with us to add further impetus to the night.”

“Glenveagh Homes will now provide valuable support for our LGFA Volunteer of the Year awards, which have been a huge success since our inaugural presentation night in February 2018.”

“Glenveagh Homes are committed to building lasting communities and there is a huge synergy between what they do and our values as an Association, and our commitment to our grassroots members and volunteers.”

“Congratulations to the winners and indeed every LGFA volunteer for all the trojan work undertaken at clubs and communities across the country,” said Glenveagh Homes Head of Community Engagement, Annette McGarry.

“As part of our building lasting communities programme, we are proud to sponsor the awards honouring such a dedicated group of volunteers and we look forward to the annual ceremony on Friday, February 9.”

 

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