Kilkenny Person of the Year awards launched

The annual Kilkenny Person of the Year awards have been launched.

Sponsored by Kilkenny Local Authority in association with the Kilkenny People newspaper, the awards scheme honours those who have made a major difference in their community.

They highlight the local heroes that live amongst us and that have inspired us in a variety of fields and endeavours - be it charity work, sport, the arts, business, community work and many other areas.

Committee chairman Billy Gardiner has revealled that for the second consecutive year, The Good Shepherd Centre will be beneficiaries of this year's award.

The awards night will take place in The Newpark Hotel on Friday, November 4.

Category winners will be announced by mid-October while the overall Person of the Year award winner will be a closely guarded secret until the night.

Last year's winner was John Cleere for his lifetime of work and dedication in the local Arts community.

There is also a Hall of Fame award.

Members of the public are invited to nominate a person or group they feel is suitable for an award for 2016.

A nomination form is printed on page 30 of this week's edition, and further details are available online at www.kilkennypeople.ie or on our facebook page.

The nomination form will be printed over the coming weeks until the deadline of October 7.

All profits from the event will go to the chosen charity on the evening. Over the twenty plus years of the scheme, the awards night has raised almost €250,000 for local beneficiaries.

Category Sponsors

The awards committed are extremely grateful to all their sponsors and their individual category sponsors which include Glanbia; O'Neill Foley; Kieran Boland Solicitors; Highway Development Limited; Kilkenny Leader Partnership and KBC Bank.