Find the good and praise it
At the Cork Person of the Year 2017 awards luncheon, Director General of RTÉ (and Cork woman) Dee Forbes spoke about the author Alex Haley who lived his life by six words: “Find the good and praise it”. This phrase has been the mantra of founder Manus O’Callaghan since he established the Cork Person of the Year award 25 years ago.
The Irish Examiner and Evening Echo newspapers published a commemorative supplement which reviewed every monthly winner over the past 25 years and it has to be said that it’s a who’s who of public life in Cork. While stars of the sporting, movie and business worlds have been honoured, Manus has also sought to highlight the wonderful work that many people do ‘under the radar’ in Cork whether that be philanthropy or charity work. These ingredients make the Cork Person of the Year award unique in that it seeks to honour people from all walks of life in Cork with the common theme being that every winner has made a difference to people’s lives.
At AM O’Sullivan PR we are proud to sponsor the awards and join the other sponsors; the Irish Examiner, RTÉ, Southern Advertising, Lexus Cork, Cork Crystal, Tony O’Connell photography and Musgrave Marketplace in supporting and highlighting these awards which celebrate all that’s good about Cork.
The importance of the award and the high esteem in which it is held is shown by some of the big names from the political, sporting and business worlds that attended the luncheon at the wonderfully prepared Estuary Suite Ballroom in the Rochestown Park Hotel. MCs for the afternoon were RTÉ’s Miriam O’Callaghan and David McCullagh, with Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney as well as leader of Fianna Fáil Micheál Martin also in attendance. Also present were Bishop John Buckley, Irish Examiner patriarch Ted Crosbie, and world renowned soprano Cara O’Sullivan who also entertained the attendance on the day.
It is a source of great pride to Manus and the organising committee that many past winners who would not have had a high profile before receiving an award secured greater publicity and public awareness of their work or cause.
The 2017 winner proved extremely difficult to choose with monthly winners like author and playwright Stephanie Preissner, Olympic and world championship winning coach Dominic Casey, iWish founders Gillian Keating, Ruth Buckley and Caroline O’Driscoll all in the mix. In the end the judging panel, made up of the chief executives of Cork City and County Councils, gave the award to Bob Seward as founder of the Cork Academy of Music, in recognition of the vital work he has done in changing lives through music. You can read more about all the monthly winners from 2017 HERE.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the awards, a Hall of Fame award was handed out on the day to Ted Crosbie of the Irish Examiner.
It is the sincere hope of Manus and the organising committee that the Cork Person of the Year continues for another 25 years, and, as long as there is someone as passionate and driven as Manus behind the awards, the future is bright!
Click HERE to read more about the 2017 Cork Person of the Year, Bob Seward.
