Civic reception honours rowers, school and champion boxer (11)
A CIVIC Reception to celebrate and recognise the special endeavours of several high achievers in the county recently by Wicklow Municipal District.
Vartry Rowers, Colaiste Chill Mhantain Secondary School and 11-year-old boxer Cole Byrne were all invited to attend the reception at County Buildings to mark their recent achievements.
Vartry Rowers recently rowed from Arklow to Wales in 18 hours 54 minutes in atrocious weather conditions to win the international Celtic Challenge Row; Colaiste Chill Mhantain Secondary School were crowned runner-ups in The Waltons Music Competition which was held at the National Concert Hall and streamed live via webcam by RTE while 11-year-old boxer Cole Byrne was crowned All-Ireland champion at the National Stadium in April in his weight category of 44.5kg.
‘It is important to recognise the massive achievements of these people who are doing the county proud,’ Cathaoirleach of Wicklow Municipal District told the Wicklow People.
‘Members of Vartry Rowing Club, who don’t even have their own club home, won this prestigious international competition which is one of the toughest rowing competitions and a huge challenge,’ he said.
He also said it was a huge achievement for pupils of Colaiste Chill Mhantain to become runner ups in national Waltons Music Competition where they had musicians, singers, dancers and students signing to the audience as part of their entry.
‘Music has taken off in a big way in the county as a result of Paul McGuinness introducing Music Generation to primary schools. This has then been carried on into secondary schools and it is fantastic to see pupils of Chill Mhantain Secondary School achieving such a high honour for the county.’
Young Enniskerry Boxing Club boxer Cole Byrne, the son of Brenda and Billy, is no stranger to the centre stage as not only has he an All-Ireland boxing medal under his wing, but he is an All-Ireland kickboxer and has three silver medals for Jiu-Jitsu.
‘Cole has phenomenal talent and is completely dedicated to his sports. He has a huge amount of talent and certainly has a big future ahead of him,’ said Cllr Snell.