Mayor's award for Kilkenny's Eastern Environs Defibrillator Group

The work of the Eastern Environs Defibrillator Group was acknowledged on Friday when Mayor Andrew McGuinness hosted a Mayor's Reception to thank the group for their 'life-saving work'.

The group are responsible for fundraising and providing defibillators at five locations in Kilkenny City while also providing the necessary training for people to use them and maintain them.

The five locations are St John’s Parish Centre, Freshco, Dublin Road, John & Andrew McGuinness Constituency Office, The Orchard House Restaurant and  James Stephens Army Barracks.

Speaking at the event, Mayor Andrew McGuinness said, "this is the first event we have had in City Hall since the start of Covid and I'm delighted that it's to acknowledge the fantastic work of this group."

"They have successfully provided defibrillators around Kilkenny City and the relevant training for people to use them. This helps to equip local communities with life saving equipment. The Eastern Environs Defibrillator Group have done Kilkenny a great service and, as Mayor, I wanted to thank them for that and acknowledge their great work.

Katherine Peacock from Kilkenny Civil Defence was also acknowledged with a Mayor's Award for her work helping the group to achieve their goal of providing the equipment in public spaces.

"Katherine has went above and beyond her call of duty by giving her experience, expertise and professional knowledge to the group. She was a great help to the project and that is in addition to the fantastic work she already does. It was important to acknowledge that," said Mayor McGuinness.

The Mayor also paid tribute to everyone that helped the group along the way, including Fr Frank Purcell, Fr Dan Carroll, Katherine Peacock, Michael Delahunty, Sharon & Mark Kelly, John Murphy, Khan Kiely, Lieutenant Paul Murphy,  Shirley Bergin, Community Policing, Civil Defence, Irish Red Cross, Order of Malta and local media.

The Eastern Environs Defibrillator Committee are -  Chair Frank Cody, Secretary Margaret Lanigan, Pat Coonan, Sr Kathleen Meagher, Jim Fogarty, Mick Dooley, Larry Murphy.