Matthew Whittaker and Heartlands Pride win overall honours at Westmeath Independent awards

Heartlands Pride Athlone and Westmeath senior footballer Matthew Whittaker were named as the overall winners at the 2026 Westmeath Independent Community & Sports Awards which took place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel yesterday (Thursday) evening.

The well-attended event, held in association with Westmeath County Council, honoured a wide variety of deserving individuals and organisations from across the sporting and community spectrum in the Athlone area.

In addition to the overall award winners, Maeve Harkin, a founder of the Athlone Special Olympics Club was honoured with the 'Volunteer of the Year' award.

Athlone duo Declan Grogan and Ray O'Reilly were named as the winners of the 'Unsung Hero' accolade in recognition of their joint achievement in raising some €80,000 for charity through various cycling challenges over the last 13 years.

In addition, Athlone Meals on Wheels was named the winner of the 'Social Inclusion' award, which honoured the importance and growth of its service over the last half-century.

The sporting side of the awards event saw 16-year-old Moate Community School student Ally Duffy win the 'Young Sportsperson of the Year' honour after a 2026 which saw her represent her country at the European U18 Athletics Championships in Italy.

The League of Ireland-winning Athlone Town senior women's side was named 'Team of the Year' at the awards, while Combined Counties Football League stalwart Chris Hand was the deserved recipient of the 'Hall of Fame' award in recognition of his years of dedicated voluntary service to soccer in the Midlands.

Tubberclair's Matthew Whittaker won both the 'Outstanding Achievement' award and the overall sport award due to his pivotal role in a memorable summer for the Westmeath footballers, who won only their second-ever Leinster championship by defeating Dublin in Croke Park.

Matthew's consistently impressive and impactful performances during the championship run recently earned him an All Star nomination.

Interviewed on stage by Westmeath Independent sports editor Kieran Galvin, he was asked about his overall highlight from this year's campaign.

"It's hard to look past the Leinster final, but the big one for me also was probably the game in Mullingar against Cavan," Matthew said.

"We were playing a lot of games in the last couple of years in front of 500 or 1,000 people in Cusack Park. To see 12,000 there, and to have it sold out in five minutes, was unbelievable. Even going into the street in Mullingar before the game was mad. It was great."

There was also some good news on the fitness front, as Matthew said he was making progress in recovering from an ankle injury which he played through for much of 2026.

"It's not too bad. We're getting there," he said. "I'm back doing a bit of straight-line running and stuff, so, look, we're hoping over the next couple of months to get it right and be back in action again for next year."

Heartlands Pride picked up the 'Group of the Year' honour and the overall award in the community section after the group organised Athlone's first Pride parade this year.

Speaking about the parade, Christine O'Mahony of Heartlands Pride said it was a very meaningful event which had a very positive impact on Athlone's LGBT+ community, including those who no longer live locally.

"Loads of people got in touch with us about it. A lot of the Athlone diaspora who have either moved to England or Australia or America said that they felt so represented," said Christine.

"A lot of people booked tickets from England to come to Athlone to witness their parade. It's just amazing that people now feel more seen.

"There's more visibility... we're seeing an increase in the number of people attending our events and I think that's because the parade has made people feel more safe to open up about who they are."

Westmeath Independent editor Tadhg Carey said the awards evening was a way for the newspaper to honour the often-selfless work of those who make Athlone a better place in which to live.

"As a local newspaper, we see ourselves as very much part of the community. We tell stories of the community to the community: the ups and downs, the successes and the defeats, the triumphs and the tragedies. It's that community ethos that drives us to host these awards," said Tadhg.

"In our work as journalists we come across so many examples of selfless community volunteerism, often unrecognised, often uncelebrated.

"The purpose of these awards for us is to shine a spotlight on those people who make this area a better place in which to live, to work, to socialise and to play sport."

The Westmeath Independent Community & Sports Awards are organised in association with Westmeath County Council and are sponsored by Byrne Carolan Cunningham LLP Solicitors, DPD Ireland, West-Midlands Credit Union and the Shamrock Lodge Hotel.