Westmeath woman wins National Volunteer Award

Maeve O’Donoghue from Killucan won the Animals and Environment award at the national Volunteer Ireland Awards on Friday last, December 7. 

More than 1 million people in Ireland volunteer and these awards aim to say thank you for the hard work, dedication and impact of volunteers across the country. 

Maeve dreated the ‘Mullingar Dog Shelter’ Facebook page to reunite and re-home dogs in the area. 

She has also volunteered in the pound itself for seven years. 

By law dogs that are in the pound have only to be kept for a certain number of days and then they can be re-homed or euthanised. 

Maeve works closely with the dog warden that runs the pound to prevent as many dogs as possible from being put to sleep either by reuniting them with owners or re-homing them. 

If neither of these are possible, Maeve has a network of connections to rescues and she does her utmost to get every dog out of the pound alive. 

Maeve visits the pound nearly every day and takes photos of any dogs that are in the pound to share as widely as possible across social media. 

The statistics show that number of dogs put to sleep in the dog pound have reduced quite a bit since Maeve began volunteering there.

Westmeath Volunteer Centre manager, Michelle Raleigh, said: “We are very lucky to have volunteers like Maeve here in Westmeath and I’d like to congratulate her on this achievement. 

“She is the embodiment of the volunteering spirit, giving back to make a real difference and protect vulnerable animals in her community. 

“Hopefully her story will inspire others to get involved in their communities.”

The 11th Volunteer Ireland Awards n Friday December 7 in the Carlton Hotel, Blanchardstown.

Mary Fitzgerald from County Clare was named Christine Buckley Volunteer of the Year for her dedication to helping those experiencing domestic abuse. 

The award is named after Christine Buckley, who was a vigorous campaigner for those who suffered institutional abuse and who passed away in 2009. 

Winners were also announced in eleven categories including Outstanding Group and Volunteer Manager of the Year.