Galway Sports Stars 2008 named

Date Published: 08-Jan-2009

EIGHTEEN of the county’s top sporting personalities will be honoured for their achievements over the past 12 months at the 44th annual Co. Galway Sports Stars awards banquet in the Ardilaun Hotel on Saturday night, January 24.

They will be joined by Hall of Fame recipient John Keenan, a key figure in Galway’s historic three-in-a-row of All-Ireland football triumphs during the sixties, and Special Dedication award winner, Joe Shields, who has been the driving force in the ongoing basketball success story of Calasanctius College, Oranmore, and the Maree Basketball Club.

Making it a triple celebration for Maree on the night will be their selection as the Club of the Year for the second consecutive time and Claire Rockall, who was inspirational in the All-Ireland title victories of the Maree U-18 girls and the Calasanctius School’s U-19 team, being chosen for the individual basketball accolade.

Incredibly, however, the parish of Portumna will trump Maree’s achievements as the club’s hurlers are being honoured as the Team of the Year; Jimmy Heverin will be accepting the Manager’s award; the gifted Joe Canning collects the hurling trophy; and Connacht captain John Muldoon has been selected as the rugby player of the year.

Another highlight of the presentation banquet will be the honouring of Galway’s three Olympians: Paul Hession, the ‘fastest white man in the world’; Olive Loughnane, who…