Canceled Thurles Sports Awards will go ahead in time

The 6th annual Thurles Sports Awards was supposed to have taken place two weeks ago, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it had to be called off.

However, organisers are determined that the awards will be staged, and the recipients will receive their honours, even if it means that they will have to wait until 2021.

Chairman of the organising committee, Cllr Jim Ryan said that he was very very disappointed to have had to call off the event with so much work having been undertaken to choose winners in the 24 categories. But, he added that each of the recipients fully understood the situation they were in and supported the decision.

“We had worked very hard to choose the winners and there are outstanding achievements there to be recognised. We have had world and European championship winners from Thurles in 2019 and it was our chance to honour them. But, we had no choice and while postponing the event was hard for everyone, it had to be done.

“We are determined to host the awards though and our main sponsor, The Anner Hotel, are also determined to press ahead with the awards night whenever we can do so in comfort and safety. That might mean that we have to wait until 2021 to host the evening, or perhaps we will get to do it later this year - it's difficult to say at this stage so we'll just have to wait and see,” Jim Ryan told The Tipperary Star this week.

Of course, looking ahead, the prospect of there being much sport this summer is very slim and so the task of choosing award winners for a 2020 campaign could prove very difficult indeed - how do you honour people for their achievements, if there is no sport from which to select winners?

There were 24 categories selected for this years awards and a considerable amount of work had gone into seeking nominations; making the vital decisions; informing recipients and inviting them to the evening; organising presentations; writing citations; making hotel and guest arrangements; and sorting entertainment for what has grown to become a very significant and important evening in the Cathedral Town social calendar.

“Yes there is a lot of work involved with so many arrangements to be made. The committee has been very busy and thankfully the awards evening has grown and grown in recent years to become a very big event. And, as it grows, there is more and more to be done. But, it a great evening and people really enjoy attending and hearing about all the sports people and their achievements. Many people might not even be aware of the achievements of the recipients and that makes it even better as far as the committee is concerned because we are highlighting the achievements of our people in a sporting sphere and they are being recognised in their own home town. They really appreciate the honour and we have been very taken by the response of recipients and their families, their clubs and their schools, which has been overwhelmingly positive,” Jim Ryan said.