There was a large attendance in The Riverbank House Hotel Wexford last Saturday night for the 15th Wexford District Annual Club Person of the Year awards Presentation dinner.
The recipients of these awards are chosen by their clubs in recognition of their involvement in their clubs and it is an indication of the esteem of which they are held by their clubs.
Individual Citations that were read on the night reflected on how deserving each recipient was of their award.
Wexford District Chairman Tossy Ryan welcomed all the recipients and their families and extended a sincere welcome to An tÚachtarán Cumann Luthcleas Gael Liam O’Neill and Wexford GAA County Secretary Margaret Doyle, he thanked all the clubs of the District for the tremendous support that they have given to the Annual awards since their inception and hoped that they would continue with this support for many years to come, he thanks all involved in making the night such a big success.
County Secretary Margaret Doyle commented on how big an honour it was for each recipient to be chosen by their clubs to receive their awards and also on the successes of so many Wexford District teams in the 2013 Wexford championships.
An tÚachtarán Liam O’Neill thanked Wexford District GAA Committee for extending the invitation to himself and his wife Áine to the function and commented on how wonderful an opportunity it was for clubs to publically recognise the tremendous commitment and work that people perform within their own clubs. He was delighted to be part of such event and praised Wexford GAA Committee for their initiative and foresight in establishing these awards so many years ago. He stressed the importance of clubs to the to the ongoing growth and development of the Association which now has a presence worldwide and asked that clubs put a major emphasis on the fostering and promotion of our games to the youth.
He spoke of how proud he was to be President of such a wonderful and volunteer led organisation, notwithstanding the fact that he came from a small club in county Laois , an opportunity which was available to all and reflected on recent National Presidential candidate Sheamus Howlin St Martins who represented his club, county and province in seeking election.
He highly praised Wexford GAA supporters who always turned out in great numbers, no matter what the code, and are considered among the finest GAA supporters in the country and expressed a wish that it would not be too long before Wexford hurling and football teams are once again gracing Croke Park in front of packed attendances.
Wexford District Committee made a special award to Sean Pettit who recently stood down as President of the District after more than 50 years involvement with the District Committee during which time he filled many officer positions including Chairman and Secretary.
The final award of the night was to the Wexford District Club of the Year , an award, sponsored by The Riverbank House Hotel, that is chosen by the clubs in Wexford District, St Fintans were named as Club of the Year for 2013 which rounded off an eventful year for the club who now join the ranks of Senior football for 2014.