Waterford sports legend Sean Kelly awarded Waterford Person of the Year
Waterford Cycling Legend, Sean Kelly, has been selected through public nominations as the third quarterly winner in the 2009 Waterford Person of the Year programme. Sean is pictured surrounded by Liz McGough, The Munster Express; Nichola Beresford, Awards Ambassador; Alison Redmond, General Manager, Faithlegg House Hotel and Sinead Corcoran, Sales Manager South East FBD Hotels. Photo:www.gerryocarroll.com
Waterford cycling legend Sean Kelly has been selected through public nominations as the third quarterly winner this year in the Waterford Person of the Year programme.
The Sean Kelly Cycling Tour, which has just completed its third annual event, attracted 2,804 cyclists in 2009 and raised over €50,000 for the Irish Cancer Society. The tour is rapidly becoming the biggest gathering of cyclists in the country with three different length routes offered to enthusiasts over the beautiful terrain of the Waterford countryside, including the Comeragh mountain range; the tour has raised €100,000 for charities since its commencement in 2007.
Kelly remains one of the greatest names in international cycling and Sean currently manages the ‘An Post’, Grant Thornton, Martin Donnelly sponsored Sean Kelly cycling team.
Sean was also instrumental in the Waterford stopping point of the 2009 Tour of Ireland race which featured his team and many of today’s world renowned cyclists including Lance Armstrong and Mark Cavendish. The people of Waterford and beyond came out in huge numbers to greet the riders on arrival in Waterford.
From the time Kelly turned pro’ in 1977 until his retirement in 1994, he was consistently one of the top achievers in arguably the toughest of all sports. He was the world’s number one from 1984 to 1989, dominating what many regard as bike racing’s greatest era. With his 22 Classic wins, he is statistically the fourth most successful professional cyclist of all time.
Kelly won the Paris-Nice stage race every year from 1982 to 1988, and topped the inaugural UCI world rankings. He has a Grand Tour victory to his credit in the 1988 Vuelta a España, also the Tour of Switzerland and wins in Paris-Roubaix, Tour of Lombardy and many other classics. One of his nicknames is ‘the man for all seasons’ for his propensity to ride and win throughout the year.
Accepting the award, Sean said: “I am delighted to accept this award. My involvement with the Sean Kelly Tour in Waterford is really an enjoyable task and the fact that is a very positive event for encouraging youth and leisure cycling and raising funds for charity is an added bonus.
“We have had cyclists from all over Ireland and beyond attend the event and had many compliments from participants who say that this is the best organised tour of its kind. That is attributable to the organisation and the people of County Waterford and that kind of effort makes me proud to be a Waterford man.”
Sean Kelly was presented with the third quarter award by FBD Hotels and the Munster Express newspaper. Alison Redmond, General Manager, Faithlegg House Hotel, Waterford said: “We are honoured to present this award to Sean. He is one of Ireland’s greatest sports stars and obviously the people of Waterford truly agree having nominated him in huge numbers for this award.”
The first quarterly award this year was presented to Nuncie Murphy of the Carers Association for her hard work and dedication. The second quarter award was presented to Lynda Murphy who in her spare time has raised over €200,000 for southeast-based charities. Each of the 2009 quarterly winners will go into a public vote at the close of 2009 in order to find the Waterford Person of the Year.
The awards scheme is currently accepting nominations for the final quarter so if you know someone who deserves recognition then email your nominations to liz@munster-express.ie or dhoulihan@thg.ie or fill in coupons from the Munster Express. The closing date for nominations for the fourth quarter is December 30, 2009.