Another Outstanding Achievement By Swords Student
Monday, 08 March 2010 16:05 Aidan McGrath, a sixth year student at Fingal Community College in Swords, was named as one of 20 finalists in the annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards. This is not the first time that this excellent student has come to the attention of this newspaper. Last November, he was the local winner of the Youth Leadership competition of the Dublin Fingal Rotary Club and went on to represent the region at the national finals, where he was unlucky not to be chosen to represent Ireland at the Rotary International event in Brussels. The Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards, now in its fourth year, honours young people on the island of Ireland for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The programme is organised by Pramerica Systems Ireland Limited in partnership with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) and the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI). Aidan, 16, from River Valley in Swords, was nominated for the award by his principal Sharon McGrath, and will receive a Certificate of Achievement from a representative of The Pramerica Spirit of Community programme later this month. On March 24th, Aidan and the 19 other finalists will be honoured at a gala awards dinner in Cork and will receive €500 and an engraved silver medallion. Aidan was selected for the honour because of his voluntary activities as chairperson of the Fingal Chomhairle na nÓg and Swords Youth Council. Spurred by the rising number of teen suicides and the number of people turning to anti-social behaviour and substance abuse, Aidan decided to get involved in community work. Aidan’s work includes developing links between local governments and young people and he was also involved in creating the Local Area Development plan highlighting the need for youth facilities. This work has been featured in local papers and on RTÉ. Speaking to the County Leader, Catherine Burke, who is Co-ordinator of the Student Council in Fingal Community College said, “Aidan is President of the Student Council in the school and has been in Dail na nOg and Chomhairle na nOg and has met with Government ministers in this capacity, where he was involved in policy making. He does lots of voluntary work and this has been great for the school and the community at large. The school is very proud of his achievements. He is a young man with exceptional ability and is an excellent public speaker, with many diverse interests. He has done trojan work for the Students Council and he will be sorely missed next year,” she concluded. |
