OUTGOING Lord Mayor Tom Brabazon presented five worthy Dubliners with awards to celebrate their new status as ‘Covid Heroes’ at the weekend.
Cllr Brabazon, who relinquished the chain of office on Monday, handed over a personalised piece of Dublin Crystal to each of the winners.
Earlier this month people across the city were asked to nominate someone in their community who they felt had gone above and beyond during the pandemic.
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More than 215 individuals and groups were nominated for going above and beyond to help boost people’s spirits during the difficult days of lockdown.
Cllr Brabazon personally examined all the nominations and selected a top five – but he said it was not an easy decision.
He told Dublin Gazette: “It was inspiring to read about all the people across our city who have done so much great work in their community during this lockdown.
“I had a difficult task to pick just five. Really they’re all Covid Heroes. But I just felt this particular group of people deserved special acknowledgement.”
The famous five are Glenda Harrington, the Reverend Rob Jones and his team of volunteers in Rathmines, Theresa Kelly in Raheny, Moira Kennedy and balcony bingo MC Michael Larkin from Ringsend.
Glenda runs a soup run for the homeless community in Dublin called ‘Friends helping Friends’. During Covid-19 she was out on the streets three nights a week helping those who needed support.
Reverend Jones and his team helped vulnerable citizens during the shut-down, in addition to working with Harold’s Cross Hospice, spending precious time with people who were dying and were not allowed visits from family.
Community stalwart Theresa helps those in need and set up a sensory garden for children with autism. She has organised food deliveries for vulnerable people in Raheny and surrounding areas.
HSE employee Moira Kennedy and her young daughter Aoibheann organised a bake sale and raffle raising €5,655 to support the Ranelagh Covid-19 response team. The money enabled the volunteers to focus on the day to day running of the meals initiative and other supports.
Michael Larkin ran balcony bingo in Cannon Mooney Gardens in Ringsend to help keep the community’s spirits up. It was the first of the socially distanced bingos and started a trend across the city and beyond. He also looked after the older generation of people in the Ringsend/Irishtown area.
Well done to one and all – worthy winners who deserve our thanks.
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