Pictures: Cork North Gardaí launch awards for youth ‘doing good work’

The 2024 Cork North Garda Youth Awards have been launched at a reception in Fermoy.

Gardaí from the Cork North Division, in association with Supermac’s and the Charleville Park Hotel, announced their annual youth awards last Friday at Fermoy Community Youth Centre.

The awards, which honour “positive acts” performed by people aged 13 to 21, will be celebrating their 29th year this April.

At the launch, Fermoy Inspector Miriam McGuire said: “Today’s launch of our 2024 Youth Awards is very important to us, because they represent young people who are doing exceptionally good work in their communities.

“We’re all very conscious of the fact that, sometimes, our youths get bad press, and it’s great to get this opportunity to acknowledge the young people that contribute to their communities.”

Garda John Hurley, juvenile liaison officer in Mallow, said: “The main aim of the launch is to promote [the awards] and to tell people to get behind it.

“We’re hopeful that people will take this opportunity to nominate young people that they feel deserve an award in each of the four categories.

“We’ve had everything, from a young man that saved his father from a bull in Mitchelstown, who later went on to a national claim; we’ve had nominations for young people that have cleaned up beaches as part of a group; and young people during covid that went around to nursing homes playing music and entertaining.

“It doesn’t have to be out-of-this-world stuff at all, it’s normal day-to-day stuff, where young people are involved to better their community. We’ll accept any nomination, as the simple stuff is equally as important as the once-off kind of stuff,” he added.

The awards will be divided into four categories, including an Individual award, a Group award, a Special Achievement award, and a Community Safety award.

All categories recognise young people who have positively contributed to their local community, overcome adversity, and or contributed to a crime-prevention or safety initiative.

Also speaking at the launch of the awards, national public-relations manager at Supermac’s, Pádraic Ó’Neachtain said: “We have a long-standing relationship with the gardaí, and [the awards are] something that we have been involved in for eight years now, and is very close to our hearts.”

Nomination forms can be obtained from local community gardaí or can be requested by email from CorkNorthYouthAwards@gardaí.ie.

Closing date for nominations is February 28 at 12pm, with the awards ceremony taking place on April 27 at Charleville Park Hotel.