CHRIS Curran is more used to lifting trophies than handing them out but the outgoing Cliftonville captain was more than happy to swap roles as the guest of honour at the St Dominic’s Extra-Curricular Awards ceremony.
In his address, he emphasised the importance of not giving up, selflessness and being true to yourself.
This is sure to resonate with the wide range of talent receiving their awards this week. This included a host of sporting triumphs in football, camogie, netball, basketball and handball. Not to mention representative honours including Northern Ireland soccer, Antrim GAA and camogie, Irish judo, basketball, cycling and world champions in Irish dancing.
The musicians on show were no less gifted with success in a variety of music festivals this year and there were performances from May Connolly on the piano and members of the Cumann Ceoil (Etain Murphy, Fionnuala Murphy and Lisa Robinson) that got everyone in the mood for summer. The finale involved a beautiful ballet performance by Annabelle French.
Joe Reid and Michael Delaney from the Order of the Knights of Columbanus presented the Faith Award to Anya Morgan and there were prizes for competition success in Science, Technology, Media Studies and Religious Studies. A variety of community awards also recognised the significant community impact of students and there were prizes for those who took part in leadership and public speaking projects.
Senior Teacher Darren Scott said: “These awards are very important to our school community as they reflect how we encourage the students to participate, develop their talents and focus on the whole self. We were delighted to have Chris as our guest and his thoughtful speech will have struck a chord with our students.”
The students certainly left an impression on the America-bound Cliftonville star who admitted: “I’m absolutely taken aback by the sheer array of talent on show today. It’s great to see so many young people making such a positive impact in their fields.”
