Singing the praises of unsung heroes - on and off the field!

Nominations open for the Celt’s Community and Sport Awards

Nominations are now open for The Anglo-Celt Community & Sports Awards 2025 in partnership with Mannok and Kingspan.

The awards were launched in the Cavan Crystal Hotel last Thursday morning (April 3) and aim to celebrate community spirit and sporting excellence among individuals, clubs and groups across the county.

Now is the time to get nominating that one person who goes above and beyond for their community - the person who attends three different meetings on the one night, is the beating heart of their community and has made a real difference to the lives of local people and families.

Categories across the community side of the awards include: Volunteer of the Year, Green Project of the Year, Carer of the Year and Community Group of the Year. An overall Community Champion will also be named from the category winners at the award ceremony, which will take place in the Cavan Crystal Hotel on Thursday, May 22, at 4pm.

Out on the field, on the court or in the arena, if you’ve noticed somebody really putting in the effort and writing sporting history in Cavan, give them the opportunity to be recognised as Young Sports Star of the Year, Outstanding Achievement Award or Team of the Year. A special Hall of Fame Award will also be presented to a worthy recipient, as selected by a panel of judges. Again, an overall Sports Person of the Year will be named at the event.

The awards are being sponsored by the Cavan Crystal Hotel, Kyte Powertech, CICS Silo Clean, Joe Rowley Windows & Doors, Dovida and Sherry Fitzgerald Declan Woods.

Speaking at the launch, CEO of the Celtic Media Group Frank Mulrennan said the Celt is “on top” of community and sporting events and “all that moves in Cavan” and is proud to host these awards to recognised the best volunteers and sportspeople across the county.

Managing Editor of the Celt Linda O’Reilly said she was “delighted” to welcome this year’s partners on board to the event. “I know community is every bit as important to you and your brands as it is to The Anglo-Celt,” she said.

“Like you, we are a business but we’ve been publishing stories since 1846 and we like to reflect the issues and stories and things that really, really matter to the community.”

She said this could be anything ranging from the under eight football final to the Virginia Show or the “big news” last week whereby Kingspan announced that it is constructing a new plant in the Ukraine.

“I know we all have the same values, that’s really what these awards are about, trying to promote the best of volunteers in our communities, of voluntary organisations and groups in our communities, of the sports clubs, of the sports stars.”

She mentioned last year’s “brilliant” overall winners; Carol Beattie from the Cavan branch of the Alzheimers Society who was named Community Champion and Arva captain Ciaran Brady as Sports Person of the Year, and she looks forward to seeing what this year’s nominations will bring.

Sports Editor Paul Fitzpatrick described it as “very important” for the Celtic Media Group to be involved in such recognition events, adding that it is 100 years since the newspaper donated The Anglo-Celt cup to the Ulster GAA Council, showing commitment to sport in the area. “That’s a real big milestone and it’s going to be getting a lot of national media coverage now when the Ulster Championship gets going.

“It would be a nice thing for Cavan maybe to win The Anglo-Celt cup on the anniversary of it,” he expressed, drawing laughter from the partners gathered.

He said the awards will be a “great occasion” and added that it’s “great” to see so many familiar faces back in the room sponsoring the event.

Nominations or entries can be put forward using the form here.

The deadline is noon on May 2. Four finalists in each category will be shortlisted and profiled in the Celt, and online, the week of the awards.

Don’t miss your chance to sing the praises of the unsung heroes in your community and let them know how much they are appreciated.