Mayo innovation and excellence celebrated

FAMILY PRIDE Mayo Person of the Year, Darren Forde from Garrymore, pictured with his mother Rita Forde and daughters Emma and Lauren at the Mayo Person of the Year lunch and awards held in the InterContinental Hotel in Dublin last Friday. Pic: Paul Sherwood

Michael Gallagher

The people, places and passion of Mayo were celebrated at a sold-out event in Intercontinental Hotel in Ballsbridge on Friday last when the annual Mayo Association Awards were handed out.
Darren Forde from Garrymore claimed the Mayo Person of the Year award for his tireless work as the coordinator of the Hollymount Community First Responders (CFR) and Automated External Defibrillator (AED) Group, while Kilmeena GAA Club brought home the Meitheal Award exactly a year after making the same journey with the All Ireland junior title in their cargo.
Those in attendance were told of the talent, drive and excellence that sets Mayo people apart.
“It was such a special occasion,” Darren Forde told The Mayo News yesterday (Monday). “I dedicated the award to all the Community First Responders around the country and all the people with basic first-aid, who save lives every day in rural Ireland.”
Thanks to Forde, three defibrillators were installed on Croagh Patrick last year. The new machines will be insulated in solar powered boxes for year-round access on the holy mountain, where there is no electricity and where two people have died from heart attacks in the last five years.
A large crowd traveled from south Mayo to support the co-ordinator of Hollymount CFR and AED Group, who invented the eco-powered cabinet that is set to revolutionise the provision of emergency medical treatments in remote areas across the world.
“I was stunned by the support I received. The amount of people who attended the event blew me away and to share the occasions with my family and friends meant so much. My mother (Rita Forde) loved meeting John O’Mahony and Dermot Flanagan and had a great time talking to them about the ’89 All-Ireland. It was that type of day. A very memorable one.”

‘Huge honour’
Kilmeena GAA also traveled in force to pick up the Meitheal Award in recognition of their All Ireland junior championship win in 2022 and the exciting work going on behind the scenes in the Clew Bay club.
John Reilly, manager of the history-making team, was delighted to accept the award alongside club chairman John McDonnell.
“It was the most positive room I’ve ever been in,” he told The Mayo News. “We were honoured to be there with Darren Forde, who has changed the face of his community with the genius of simplicity. What he’s doing is special. We were also there with former winner Martina Jennings, a woman who does great work for a very vulnerable section of our society.
“It was brilliant to see such a mighty crowd from the club. It was a huge honour for us and I know people talk about us winning the All Ireland, but there’s so much more to the club and that’s what the award was for.
“We have lots of initiatives going such as Healthy Club, our women won the Junior B title and we have the more senior members of the club down there playing cards with their friends. These are just some of the things going on behind the curtain as success is chased on the pitch. So many people worked so hard in the background for years and each and every one of them contributed to the club picking up that prestigious award in Dublin on Friday.”