Sanctuary Runners honoured with Cork award
Fermoy based founder of Sanctuary Runners, Graham Clifford along with the late Tony Power of Cork City Council, have both been awarded Cork Persons of the Month Awards for the month for February.
The Sanctuary Runners bring together Irish residents, refugees and asylum seekers to run together to foster solidarity, friendship and respect. The group was named one of Europe’s leading solidarity-through-sport movements by the European Commission in 2019 and a year later, Cork City Council won the Health and Wellbeing Innovation award at the Chamber’s Ireland Excellence in Local Government Awards for its collaboration with the Sanctuary Runners.
Then in 2020, Cork City Council and the Sanctuary Runners won the award for ‘ Best Community Sports Club in Ireland’ at the All-Ireland Community and Council Awards at Croke Park.
GREAT SUPPORT
A key supporter of the Sanctuary Runners since its foundation is the Tomar Trust, established by Dr Tom Cavanagh of Fermoy and his wife Marie.
Graham Clifford told The Avondhu this week, that without the support of Dr Cavanagh, the Sanctuary Runners may never have gotten out of the starting blocks.
“He (Dr Cavanagh) understood from the get-go what we were trying to do. His commitment, and that of the Tomar Trust, to community integration and bridge building across Irish society is just incredible. Also, Tom was a fantastic athlete in his day and competed internationally, so he knows only too well the power of sport to bring people together and we are eternally grateful for his vision, encouragement and support.”
The Sanctuary Runners now have groups in 28 locations across Ireland with 5,000 participants and plans to build new groups in 2022/23 in Germany, Italy, Cyprus, the UK, Belgium, Australia and the USA. They will also pilot a Sanctuary Swimmers initiative in Cork later in the year.
And at the awards presentation, founder Graham Clifford recalled the help and assistance he received from the late Tony Power of Cork City Council.
“Tony really believed in what we were doing. He never said ‘no’ and always tried to push the boundaries of what we could achieve. Whether that was helping us acquire running tops, getting a street closed for a postrace celebration or entering us for national awards, Tony was always there beside us. His input as a public servant was just intrinsic to our development and growth and his passion was inspiring.”
In July, 2021, Tony Power died suddenly at the age of 57. Sanctuary Runners lined the streets outside Cork City Hall to pay their respects. Paul Moynihan of Cork City Council who was a colleague and friend of Tony’s collected the award in his memory.
PASSPORTS AT THE BORDER!
Graham Clifford, originally from Glenbeigh in County Kerry, is a former feature writer and broadcaster for The Irish Times, Irish Independent, Business Post, RTÉ Radio 1, BBC Local Radio and Radio Kerry.
He also established the Fermoy International Choir and the emerging One Town One Voice Community Singing initiative. During the Covid-19 pandemic he, with his wife Catherine, a GP in Fermoy, established the Translate Ireland Multilingual Video Messaging service for migrants in Ireland.
And he was keen to point out that despite winning this award, he’s still very much a proud Kerry man.
“I might have to show my passport at the border now near Rathmore. It’s funny really in that Tony Power was a very proud Clare man – so both of us were blow-ins. It says a lot about a place that those from outside are celebrated in this way and at the end of the day that’s what my work is all about. I’ll still be wearing my green and gold in the summer though!”
Graham and Tony’s names now go forward, with the other Persons of the Month chosen this year, for possible selection as Cork Persons of the Year at a gala awards lunch on January next (2023).