5.
The Winner of the Coach/Manager Award for 2023 was Martin Regan, CLG Naomh Conaill.His successes since taking over as manager of the Glenties club in 2015 at the age of 31 have been truly extraordinary. Last year’s achievements were the best ever for the secondary school teacher. Martin Regan guided Naomh Conaill to the club’s first ever treble in Donegal. Regan’s men were then mighty unlucky to lose an Ulster semi-final to reigning champions Glen who went on to win the All-Ireland Club Final on Sunday.Under Marin Regan, Naomh Conaill have been County Senior Championship Finalists seven times winning five of them. Off the field of play Martin is equally as busy as the Club Development Officer overseeing a number of projects.
6.
The 2023 Cue Sports Award winner was Ben McMenamin from Raphoe.It’s Ben first time to win here and the achievement for him last year was being a member of the Irish Junior team who were runners-up at the European Pool Championships in Malta last February. Ben got selected for the international U18 side after finishing runner-up in the U23 Donegal Pool Championships at just 15 years of age.Ben came out on top at the first ever Donegal Pool Junior County Championship at the CYMS in Letterkenny last year. In the U18 Final Ben’s ability shone through as he emerged a deserving winner of the competition overcoming the challenge of Michael Mulreany.He is the fifth Cue Sports Award category winner after Shaun Sharkey, Sean Devenney, John Connors and Ronan Whyte.
7.
The Winner of the 2023 Donegal Sports Star Cycling Award was Jamie Meehan from Mountcharles. It’s been a year to remember for Jamie Meehan winning an Irish title and representing his country on the international cycling stage. At the end of June Jamie Meehan claimed the Irish U23 gold medal. Then he was on the Irish team that took part in the World Championships in Scotland in August. He also represented Ireland at the Tour de L'Avenir, the top U-23 race in the world. In November Jamie was a member of a nine man Ireland team that competed at the UEC European Cyclo-cross Championships in France. Jamie Meehan is now one of Ireland’s top road and cyclo cross riders. In December it was confirmed that the 20-year-old was moving from Spain to France after signing for top elite outfit CC Utopes. His mother Rosie collected the award.
8.
The Winner of the 2023 Donegal Sports Star Darts Award is Adrian Devine from Buncrana.It was a super year for Adrian with the Irish team where he won all four of his international contests. He has also been a regular on successful Donegal County men's teams. Adrian Devine is currently ranked number 1 by the Irish National Darts Organisations.Among his triumphs in 2023 were the Islands Challenge and a number of Irish National Darts Organisations titles. One of the highlights of the year came in August when Adrian and Gerard McGlynn won the Masters Pairs title at the Irish Festival of Darts in Carlow.Adrian has continued his fine form into 2024 leading the Donegal men’s darts A team to win the prestigious West Coast Challenge last Saturday night in Roscommon. It’s the first time for Adrian to win at the Donegal Sports Star Awards. Gerard Porter picked up the award on Adrian's behalf.