13.
Sadie Duffy started off as a committee member with her club then went on to be a referee and judge at national and international level. She is the long time Secretary at the Illies Club carrying out her voluntary duties with unwavering dedication. She has also served in the same roles at the Ulster Boxing Council and the European Women’s Commission. She was Ireland’s first woman boxing referee in 1997. She made history as the ref of the first official ladies’ amateur fight, which featured current world champion Katie Taylor who won that bout in October 2001. Sadie was a referee and judge at last October’s Men’s World Boxing Championships in Serbia. Four years ago the long time Secretary of Illies Golden Gloves was honoured by the Irish Amateur Boxing Association for her services to the sport. Sadie’s refereeing career is continuing at the top level having just returned earlier this week from the 2022 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships in Turkey. And at the end of tournament presentations Sadie was named the Outstanding Referee/Judge of the Championships.Sadie Duffy, Illies Golden Gloves, receives an Appreciation award from John McLaughlin, Donegal County Council
14.
Ten years ago Dungloe native James Boyle first won a Donegal Sports Star award and this evening he is being recognised again for his role in an international tournament in Poland last September. James was a member of the Republic of Ireland squad that played in the European Amputee Football Federation Finals in Krakow. He grabbed a hat-trick in an 8-0 victory over Belgium in a group opener. His third was a stunning goal that gained an amazing 3.4million online views.James followed that up with the goal that gave Ireland a 2-1 win over Germany. The Dungloe man scored again against Italy to force the tie into extra-time but the game ended in defeat. Despite the disappointment of not making the knockout stages James was outstanding during the tournament.Para-Athlete award winner, James Boyle, Dungloe
15.
Dr Sharon Madigan is Head of Performance Nutrition at Sport Ireland and worked with the Irish Team pre-Olympics and was with them in Tokyo last summer.The Letterkenny woman has also worked as a performance nutritionist for the High Performance Boxing team who have had a string of successes at European, World and Olympic level over the past two decades. Sharon has also worked with Ulster Rugby and county GAA teams including Donegal. She also has a role with the Olympic Council of Ireland as a member of the sports science and medical team.Olympic Recognition award winner Dr Sharon Madigan
16.
Mark English is one of Ireland’s top athletes of all time with three European 800m medals to his credit. He won a bronze at the 2014 European Athletics Championships. The following year it was silver in Prague and on 3 March 2019 the Letterkenny man won a bronze medal in the Euro Indoor 800 metres final in Glasgow. He represented Ireland at the 2016 Olympics in Rio and of course he was in Tokyo last summer. Mark has combined his elite athletics career by qualifying as a doctor and is currently working at Galway University Hospital.Joe English receives an Olympic Recognition award on behalf of his son Mark from Cllr Jack Murray