Killucan student gets Gaisce Gold

Kenneth Hynes from Killucan is one of the inspirational young people from all over Ireland who received a Gaisce Gold Award from President Michael D Higgins for their outstanding community work and significant personal achievements at an awards ceremony in Dublin Castle yesterday (Tuesday November 12).

Kenneth achieved his Bronze Award while at St Finian’s College in Mullingar; he kayaked the White Nile in Uganda and ran an outdoor adventure week in Soca Valley, Slovenia.

Kenneth got involved in Wild Water Kayak Club and became a coach of juniors as part of his Community Involvement. He taught core skills and focused on white water kayaking, teaching participants to run more advanced rivers in a safe and fun manner while also getting them ready to go out without the aid of instructors once old enough.

As part of his personal skill Kenneth took up debating. This involved attending weekly training and competing at some numerous intervarsites throughout Ireland and UK.

He became more experienced and moved on to a trainer role, passing his knowledge and experiences to others.

For the Physical Recreation section of his Gold Award, Kenneth took up running and set himself the challenge of completing the Dublin half marathon in September 2011. He also completed the Frank Duffy 10 Mile race.

Kenneth set himself another challenge of kayaking the White Nile in Uganda, which consisted of exploring the various channels of the White Nile from its source at Jinja to the Hairy Lemon campsite some 60km downstream.

Finally to complete his Gold Award, Kenneth participated in leading a group from Dublin City University Canoe Club on an outdoor activities week in Slovenia.