Kilkenny’s Carmel O’Neill has been unveiled as a Spar Community Mentor

Kilkenny’s Carmel O'Neill has been unveiled as a SPAR Community Mentor in recognition of her work in sharing her time, dedication and talent for the greater good of the Paulstown Boxing Club in County Kilkenny.

Carmel is a mainstay of the Paulstown family and is one of the driving forces behind the club. SPAR is proud to honour her achievements and accomplishments through this programme. The SPAR Honour your Mentor programme, which formed part of SPAR’s Christmas Community Fund initiative, sees SPAR acknowledge and reward 10 local community mentors by awarding them €1,000 for their club or community group. Each recipient was nominated anonymously by a member of their community who detailed the reasons for the nominations.

Carmel’s nominator said this of her, for example, “Carmel is the heart of our club. Not alone is she a coach, a mentor and our club secretary but she is our cleaner, our painter, our barista serving refreshments, tending to visitors and making sure coaches, athletes and visitors alike are looked after. As a retired nurse, Carmel is the mammy of the club offering encouragement, coaching advice and using her nurse background to provide advice and first aid to ensure all are safe, healthy and fit, especially amidst the current global pandemic. Despite taking a backseat in avoiding the limelight
 Carmel can always be found supporting our elites at finals or welcoming our nervous newcomers on their first night. Carmel’s desire to assist athletes, regardless of their background, ethnicity, social status, wealth or influence and provide what she believes are opportunities they deserve is why she is an exceedingly worthy recipient or recognition and this award.”

Carmel O'Neill is wife of Ollie O'Neill, head coach of Paulstown Boxing Club and mother of Olympian Darren O'Neill, who captained the Irish boxing team at the London Olympics.

The SPAR Honour Your Mentor initiative was launched by Irish Olympian, World Champion boxer, and SPAR Ambassador Kellie Harrington to stimulate community spirit and recognise true local heroes like Carmel in communities all around Ireland.

Commenting, Kellie said, “This is a fabulous initiative by SPAR and one that I am truly excited to be associated with. SPAR retailers are embedded in the communities they serve and hearing all the stories of these 10 winners was a humbling experience. The winners are fully deserving on their awards and I commend SPAR on this initiative.”

In total, SPAR presented 10 Community Mentors with cheques for €1,000 for each of their clubs, with SPAR Sales Director Colin Donnelly saying, “The recipients of the SPAR Honour Your Mentor awards are true heroes within their communities. I want to take this opportunity to commend each and every one of them. SPAR and our retailers are delighted with how this initiative has generated so much interest in local communities all over Ireland.”

Suzanne McCullagh, from SPAR Bagenalstown, presenting Carmel O’Neill from Paulstown Boxing Club with a cheque for €1,000 as part of the SPAR Honour Your Mentor initiative, which was launched by Kellie Harrington to stimulate community spirit and recognise true local heroes like Carmel in communities all around Ireland.