Injured Dessie inspires at CBS awards day
THE Charleville Park Hotel was the venue for this year’s annual CBS Secondary School Awards day last week where the guest speaker was local man and past pupil of the school, Des Fitzgerald.
The proceedings started with an address of welcome from student Jack Murphy, the chairperson of the students’ council, during the course of which he welcomed their new principal, Ms Una Griffin, and deputy principal, Ms Tracey Groome.
The guest speaker, Dessie Fitzgerald, in his address to the students outlined the vicissitudes he had encountered in his life to date from his serious spinal injury sustained while playing with Charleville junior hurlers at Fr. Con Buckley Park in Buttevant in 2011. Des, who is still in recovery from that injury, related how this tragedy was compounded by the deaths of his two brothers, one to suicide and one to adult sudden death syndrome.
However, he said that initially he had bottled up his feelings and kept his thoughts to himself but then decided to let it all out and talk about what happened. He urged the boys to express their feelings no matter what was troubling them; to talk to somebody and not bottle it all up, but to go to somebody they could trust to speak about their problem and don’t let it drag you down.
“You will meet many challenges in the years ahead, ask for help if you need it to deal with these challenges. Master your fear and struggle to be courageous, and not to be afraid to ask for help,” he told the boys and wished them well in their examinations and in the years ahead.
School principal Una Griffin said that as the newly appointed principal of the school she was very proud of the achievements of the students and extended thanks to all the staff and the school community for their hard work, and to her deputy principal, Tracey Groome, for her contribution.
She also thanked the parents’ advisory council, who, she said, had a crucial role to play as partners in the education of the students in the ethos of Edmund Ignatius Rice.
Addressing the 6th Year class, Ms Griffin said: “I have no doubt it has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows for the last five or six years, but I hope that on life’s path ahead you will carry with you the valuable experiences and learnings gained here in CBS.”
The chairperson of the board of management, Jacqueline Morrissey, congratulated the students and paid tribute to the school staff who helped the students to achieve their goals. “This represents a continuation of the long tradition of excellence which the school continues to enjoy year after year,” she said.
The students received awards from Des Fitzgerald, Jacqueline Morrissey, Eva Barrington of AIB and Kelley Lyons of AIB.
The chairman of Charleville Credit Union, Pat Savage, presented student Jack Murphy with the 2017 Charleville Credit Union Student of the Year Award.
Ms Niamh O’Sullivan was the efficient MC for the awards ceremony.