De La Salle College Awards Night 2011

The sixth annual awards night for the De La Salle College, Dundalk took place in the Fairways Hotel on Monday 23rd of May, 2011. In attendance were nearly two hundred students, their parents, teachers, members of the Board of Management, Eilish Humphries of the Le Cheile Trust and of course this year’s Illustrious Allumni, Mr. Patrick Keenan.

Paddy came to De la Salle College as fresh faced First Year in September 1997. His sporting prowess ensured that he was in demand for several sports in the school. He played gaelic and soccer at all age levels throughout his time in De la Salle. The pinnacle of his sporting success in school was the crucial role he played for the Dundalk Colleges team that won the Leinster Colleges ‘A’ Championship in 2002 defeating a Colm O’Rourke coached St. Patrick’s, Navan in the final on a wet and windy St. Patrick’s Day in Drogheda. That same year, De la Salle College won the Louth Schools Championship (Lennon Cup) for the first time in many years with Paddy playing a central role in the success. He represented Louth at Minor Level for two years.
While Paddy was an all round sportsman, he did not neglect his academic studies. He is one of those people who can successfully combine the academic with the sporting. Having sat his Leaving Certificate, also in 2002, he went on to gain a degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Dublin Institute of Technology. This was followed by a Masters Degree in Business Management from Dublin City University. He is currently employed in Business Banking with Bank of Ireland.

While pursuing his Third level education, Paddy’s football career was also taking off. He first played for the Louth Senior team in 2003 in a challenge match against newly crowned All Ireland Champions, Armagh, at the tender age of seventeen. His inter-county career took off from there and he quickly became the mainstay of the Louth team. In 2006, he enjoyed double success winning the National League Division Two Title and the Tommy Murphy Cup. As early as 2004, he was selected for the Leinster Railway Cup team. 2007 saw a nomination for an All-Star. He was quickly establishing himself as one of the country’s best midfield players. He was the obvious choice for Louth captain in 2009. This year he has had the honour of captaining his county to the National League Division Three Title and was awarded that highly-coveted All-Star.

The awards night was a glittering success with nearly five hundred people packing the Convention Centre in the Fairways for the evening’s proceedings. Mr. Martin Brennan, the Principal, was Master of Ceremonies on the night sadly for the last time as he is set to retire in August.
Amongst the recipients of the awards on the night were Darren McMahon, Senior Student of the Year and Philip McGuinness who was the Junior Student of the Year. Fearghal Donnelly was the recipient of the LaSallian Award for his outstanding contribution to school life in general and his work in fostering the Lasallian ethos in the school. The winner of the Best Leaving Cert results Award for 2010 was Richard O’Hagan, currently training with the Irish Army Cadets, whilst the award for Best Junior Cert results went to Ciaran Byrne. Sporting endeavour was also recognised on the night when Robert Curran and Darren McMahon were awarded the Junior and Senior Sportspersons of the year respectively.

The final award of the night was the Illustrious Alumni Award. This was accepted by the aforementioned Mr. Patrick Keenan who modestly thanked his former teachers for their help and encouragement during his time at the college.