Crowd of over 200 attends Athlone Croí na hÉireann awards

The awards night for Athlone's St Patrick's week Croí na hÉireann festival was recently held in the Sheraton Athlone Hotel with more than 200 guests in attendance.

The festival's chairman, John Henson, opened proceedings by welcoming and thanking those in attendance, particularly the many volunteers who gave freely of their time and worked so hard to make this year's festival a huge success.

The numbers participating in the festival continue to grow year-on-year, with an extra night added this year to include a girls and boys under-12 Futsal tournament in TUS.

Estimated numbers of 7,000 spectators viewed or attended the festival events over the six days of Croí na hÉireann 2026 in March. The St Patrick's Day parade itself involved more than 1,400 participants from groups across the entire spectrum of Athlone's diverse and vibrant community, Mr Henson added.

The first presentation of the night was to the guest of honour, Patrick Beaumont, Sensei, Athlone Karate Club which will celebrate its 40th anniversary later this year. Patrick's contribution to the youth of Athlone and its environs has been well documented over the years and he was a very worthy selection as Grand Marshal.

The next award was a token of appreciation from the committee to its three very experienced parade judges; Jean Farrell, Regina Bushell and Joe Mc Carrick.

Regina Bushell, in her role as President of Athlone Chamber of Commerce, remained on stage to deliver a brilliantly descriptive account recalling the excitement and build up to the parade day she felt when, as a young Irish dancer, she prepared to take part in a St Patrick's Day Parade through the streets of Athlone.

She went on to speak of the positive aspects and importance of festivals such as Croi na hEireann in bringing communities together and showcasing the rich talent that exists locally.

She also outlined the commercial value of the festival to the businesses in Athlone and indeed the sponsorship from businesses to the community groups.

Garrycastle's Hazel Donegan, who has won a total of 8 caps for the Irish under-17 and under-18 ladies soccer teams then presented an award to the Futsal u12 winners, Skyvalley Rovers (Girls) and Temple Villa (Boys).

John Henson acknowledged the generous funding for the festival which was contributed by Westmeath County Council.

He also thanked the groups who provided music and displays on the night including the young up-and-coming Athlone band COPA, Feile na Sionnaine, Comhaltas, Athlone Karate Club, Attitude Dance Group and the Coláiste Chiaráin who took part in a student exchange trip to Athlone's twin city of Providence in the United States.

At the awards night the Athlone students sang and danced the numbers they had performed for the Mayor of Providence at City Hall.

Cllr Frankie Keena, treasurer of the Croí na hÉireann committee congratulated and thanked everyone for participating in this year's festival.

"We are fortunate to have a marvellous voluntary organising committee, ably led by John Henson, which has put in endless hours to make this festival a success," he stated.

Special thanks was extended to Westmeath County Council, Arcadia Retail Park and Golden Island Shopping Centre for their generous sponsorship of the festival.

"In addition, we are very grateful to the Athlone Regional Sports Centre, Athlone Extrusions, Ganly’s Hardware, TUS and Flancare for the use of their facilities," stated Cllr Keena.