Tickets now on sale for Offaly Person of the Year and Unsung Hero awards night

Tickets are now available for the Offaly Person of the Year and Unsung Hero of Offaly Awards dinner and presentation which takes place in April.

Ferbane native Seamus Dooley has been chosen as the 2023 Offaly Person of the Year.

Tony Bergin, from Cooleshall in the Killavilla area of the county, has been selected as the 2023 Unsung Hero of Offaly.

Both men will be presented with their prestigious awards at a gala dinner dance in the Bridge House Hotel, Tullamore, on Saturday, April 13 next.

Tickets – priced at €45 - to the event are available from the hotel or any member of the organising sub-committee - Liam Fleury, Drumcullen and Dublin, (087 6169192), Pat Teehan, Coolderry and Birr, (087 6593757), Noel McCann, Daingean and Tullamore, (085 8057385), Peter Carter, Edenderry and Tullamore, (087 2662475) and Ger Scully, Tullamore and Killavilla (083 1750285).

The prestigious awards are organised by a sub-committee of the Offaly Association (Dublin) and sponsored by the Celt Bar, Talbot Street, Dublin.

Chairperson of the sub-committee, Liam Fleury, said the committee was overawed with the calibre of the nominees this year.

A journalist, Seamus Dooley is Irish Secretary of the National Union of Journalists.

A tireless advocate of journalists in all sectors, he is a regular commentator in the national media.

Educated at the School of Journalism in the College of Commerce, Rathmines, Seamus started his career as a reporter in the Tullamore Tribune before being appointed Editor of the Roscommon Champion. He worked with the Irish Independent before taking up his role with the NUJ.

A proud Offaly man, Seamus has never forgotten his roots in west Offaly. His father, the late Eddie Joe Dooley, a long serving councillor on Offaly County Council, also received the award.

Nonagenarian Tony Bergin, a retired dairy farmer, is a passionate inventor of all things practical.

Tony has won numerous competitions across Ireland including a number at the National Inventions Section of Tullamore Show which he has been exhibiting at since its inception.

In total thirty-three nominations were received for the Offaly Association (Dublin) 2023 Offaly Person of the Year and Unsung Hero of Offaly awards.

In attendance at the gala dinner and presentation will be Coolderry native, Noel Tynan, the 2022 Offaly Person of the Year and Edenderry's Shane Loughlin, the 2022 Unsung Hero of Offaly, as well as previous recipients of both awards.