Who’s Your Local Hero…?

Sponsored by AIB Greystones

hen we launched our search three years ago for a local hero who had gone above and beyond for their community, there was an instant reaction.

We had all been through a year of lockdowns, and with our backs up against the wall (indoors, of course), our fighting spirit had come to the fore.

2021’s Local Hero

Whether it was free dinners for frontline workers courtesy of  Chakra and Las Tapas, or those health workers risking everything to save lives, plus the sudden burst of volunteer groups, there were local heroes popping up everywhere.

Kaci Rock FRI4MAR22

When that second year of lockdowns kicked in though, the clapping for nurses faded away, as that community spirit began to wither and grate. Isolation will do that to you.

Which is why it was so important to accentuate those positive people trying to make our world a better, happier place.

The bould Mags

So, we celebrated those who had quietly kept on fighting the good fight, whether it’s incredible health workers such as Mary Finnegan or under-the-radar community workers like Mags Crean (who, incidentally, was pretty much the only person who thought we had a shot of winning the World’s Most Liveable Community title again after 13 largely concreted-filled years), Open Door founder Mary Hackett, a Greystones dog’s best friend Bernadette Stokes, fall guy Tom O’Mahony, that gentle giant of an activist Dermod Dwyer, kayaking crusader John Dempsey, the pioneering Nature’s Gold duo Brod & Caroline, or future leading lights such as the chartbound, gender-busting Smoothboi Ezra, silent type Cassie Edge, hairless hero Mia agus wunderkind Siena.

Mary gets her just award

And hey, being an inspiration across the nation, we made Ashford’s mighty Charlie Bird an honorary Greystonians too.

We’re blessed to have people such as last year’s winner, the rockin’ Kaci Rock, and 2021’s winner, Conor Power (who, you know, just saved a life), as well as our Greystones Person Of The Year grandees John McGowan, Pierce Cahill, Ross McParland, Joe Sweeney, Edgar Swann and Alan Rowlette. So, that rules them eight feckers out for this year’s Local Hero. 

Plainly, there are heroes all around us, and if you feel one of them – or one of the town’s many volunteer groups – deserves a moment in the sun, you can nominate your local hero in the comments below.

Sorting out the selfless acts from the selfie acts, let us know just why your favourite Samaritan deserves to be held aloft.

Special thanks to Niamh and the very good people at AIB Greystones for sponsoring this year’s love-in.

More importantly, they’ll be blessed with the undying love and admiration of 25,000 Greystonians – for anything up to 12 months…