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Grace adds another string to her bow with award-winning chocolates
Seventeen-year-old Grace Hannon has already acquired quite the impressive résumé – in sport, in school and in life.
She ran to gold and silver medals representing Connacht at the 2015 Special Olympics; she was recently nominated for Gaisce/The President’s Award – and her home-made chocolates have landed her a Galway Enterprise Award.
Grace’s story helps to challenge old conventions and redefine what it means to be a person with Down Syndrome in modern society.
Grace Hannon presents a cheque to Patricia Griffin, Education Officer with Down Syndrome Ireland, proceeds of her chocolate enterprise.
A genetic condition, Down Syndrome is a chromosomal disorder affecting one in every 546 births in Ireland – or around 7,000 people.
The youngest of four, Grace lives with her parents Pat and Rose, dogs Miley and Max and Dizzy the cat. Her elder siblings – sister Jessica (21) and brothers James (23) and Michael (25) – have since left the nest.
Sociable and outgoing, Grace is a Transition Year student with Coláiste Mhuire, Ballygar where she thoroughly enjoys going to school and availing of the curriculum. Her favourite subjects include Art and Home Economics.
“Grace is the type of person who can put a smile on your face and make you laugh before 9.30am in the morning – and anyone who can do that is worth being around,” says Ita Keane, Special Needs Assistant with Coláiste Mhuire who works closely with Grace on a daily basis.
As part of the schools TY program all students were asked to complete an enterprise project, working in groups, pairs of singularly.
For her part, Grace took undertook an independent project; by creating her own acclaimed chocolaterie – ‘Grace’s Gorgeous Chocolates’.
The irony is that Grace doesn’t even like chocolate! Both Ita and her father Pat admitted that she doesn’t eat chocolate, sweets or biscuits; however they agree she loves cooking and baking, creating things with her hands and making others happy
The ambitious student researched and sourced high quality chocolate beans and moulds for her bespoke chocolates.
She got to grips with the science of chocolate-making ensuring the temperature and consistency was just right.
Grace demonstrated her creative aptitude and dedication by applying herself to every aspect of the project – from idea creation to design and production through to finished product.
Labels and packaging were sponsored by Casey’s Topaz, Roscommon.
The ‘Grace’s Gorgeous Chocolates’ product line; boasted a delightful range of scrumptious creations to suit every taste. Her tailor-made confections were sold as Mother’s Day Gifts – and again as Easter Gifts, to fellow students and teachers.
The kind natured teenager decided – of her own accord – to donate all proceeds to Down Syndrome Ireland. And for that she was presented with a special award in recognition of her efforts and achievement, at the Galway Enterprise Awards held in the Ardilaun Hotel.
Grace Hannon accepts her Student Enterprise Awards 2016 from the Deputy Mayor of Galway City, Cllr Niall McNeilis.
Ita, who assisted Grace throughout the project is both delighted and fiercely proud of her student, who she characterizes as “hugely generous and caring” with a “willingness to help”.
Ita reiterates the importance of successful integration and inclusion in mainstream education.
“When Grace first arrived she had no communication skills and no sense of time,” she remembers.
She still has difficulties in communication but Ita insists these skills have ‘vastly improved’.
Getting to this point has been a huge challenge for Grace – but also for all of her family, who have had to fight tooth and nail for essential services like speech and language therapy.
Grace’s communication skills are lacking – with regards her ability to express – but her father Pat says they have ‘barely had any’ speech and language therapy available to them.
“That’s what we’re up against,” he says, echoing the frustrations off all parents of children with disabilities across the country.
The proud father says that his ‘main concern’ is education. At seventeen years old, he’s looking to the future for his daughter – what access is there to further education, what courses are available to her?
He hopes she can complete a FETAC and enjoy some form of independence.
“It wouldn’t be good for her to stay in the house, she needs something to work towards and have a sense of achievement,” he adds.
And despite all of the struggles, her proud father wouldn’t change a thing.
“When parents have a child with Down Syndrome, it appears to be a terrible blow. But it is the best thing that ever happened to us. Grace is an absolute joy to have around. She sees all the good there is in the world – she makes everyone around her happy. We’re blessed to have her.”
Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
On the eve of completing his 150th marathon, an odyssey that has taken him across 53 countries, Loughrea’s Marathon Man has announced that he is planning to hang up his running shoes.
But not before Jarlath Fitzgerald completes another ten races, making it 160 marathons on the occasion of his 60th birthday.
“I want to draw the line in 2026. I turn 57 in October and when I reach 60 it’s the finishing line. The longer races are taking it out of me. I did 20 miles there two weeks ago and didn’t feel good. It’s getting harder,” he reveals.
“I’ve arthritis in both hips and there’s wear and tear in the knees.”
We speak as he is about to head out for a run before his shift in Supervalu Loughrea. Despite his physical complaints, he still clocks up 30 miles every second week and generally runs four days a week.
Jarlath receives injections to his left hip to keep the pain at bay while running on the road.
To give his joints a break, during the winter he runs cross country and often does a five-mile trek around Kylebrack Wood.
He is planning on running his 150th marathon in Cork on June 4, where a group of 20 made up of work colleagues, friends and running mates from Loughrea Athletics Club will join him.
Some are doing the 10k, others are doing the half marathon, but all will be there on the finishing line to cheer him on in the phenomenal achievement.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
From the Galway City Tribune – An impassioned plea for a ‘masterplan’ that would guide Galway City into the future has been made in the Dáil. Galway West TD Catherine Connolly stated this week that there needed to be an all-inclusive approach with “vision and leadership” in order to build a sustainable city.
Deputy Connolly spoke at length at the crisis surrounding traffic and housing in Galway city and said that not all of the blame could be laid at the door of the local authority.
She said that her preference would be the provision of light rail as the main form of public transport, but that this would have to be driven by the government.
“I sat on the local council for 17 years and despaired at all of the solutions going down one road, metaphorically and literally. In 2005 we put Park & Ride into the development plan, but that has not been rolled out. A 2016 transport strategy was outdated at the time and still has not been updated.
“Due to the housing crisis in the city, a task force was set up in 2019. Not a single report or analysis has been published on the cause of the crisis,” added Deputy Connolly.
She then referred to a report from the Land Development Agency (LDA) that identified lands suitable for the provision of housing. But she said that two-thirds of these had significant problems and a large portion was in Merlin Park University Hospital which, she said, would never have housing built on it.
In response, Minister Simon Harris spoke of the continuing job investment in the city and also in higher education, which is his portfolio.
But turning his attention to traffic congestion, he accepted that there were “real issues” when it came to transport, mobility and accessibility around Galway.
“We share the view that we need a Park & Ride facility and I understand there are also Bus Connects plans.
“I also suggest that the City Council reflect on her comments. I am proud to be in a Government that is providing unparalleled levels of investment to local authorities and unparalleled opportunities for local authorities to draw down,” he said.
Then Minister Harris referred to the controversial Galway City Outer Ring Road which he said was “struck down by An Bord Pleanála”, despite a lot of energy having been put into that project.
However, Deputy Connolly picked up on this and pointed out that An Bord Pleanála did not say ‘No’ to the ring road.
“The High Court said ‘No’ to the ring road because An Bord Pleanála acknowledged it failed utterly to consider climate change and our climate change obligations.
“That tells us something about An Bord Pleanála and the management that submitted such a plan.”
In the end, Minister Harris agreed that there needed to be a masterplan for Galway City.
“I suggest it is for the local authority to come up with a vision and then work with the Government to try to fund and implement that.”
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
