Frank Grehan (fourth from left) receiving his Volunteers in Sports Award at a Federation of Irish Sport ceremony in Dublin today. Among those included in the photo is Sligo award winner, Kay Curley and Minister of State for Sport and Physical Education, Thomas Byrne.

A County Roscommon man has been presented with a Volunteers in Sport Award by the Federation of Irish Sport.

At a special ceremony in Dublin today St. Aidan’s clubman, Frank Grehan was presented with his award.

Mr Grehan, who has had lifelong association with the GAA as a player, administrator and coach, was among 32 award winners from each county who were honoured at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Blanchardstown for their amazing dedication to volunteering across a variety of different sports.

Throughout December and early 2023 members of the public, sports clubs and governing bodies were invited to nominate an individual whose contribution to sport and physical activity in Ireland has made a real difference to their community, club, or county.

Following a shortlisting process by the selection committee, the judging panel, consisting of nine individuals drawn from sports administration, academia, the volunteer community and media, and included former Director General of the GAA, Paraic Duffy, RTÉ Sports Broadcaster, Marie Crowe, Roddy Guiney, Chair WHPR and Clare McGrath, Chairperson of the Federation of Irish Sport, set to work.

The Volunteers in Sport Awards celebrate the contributions of volunteers across the country who give their time to Irish sport and physical activity every year. This equates to approximately 37.3 million hours of volunteering across Ireland’s 13,000 registered sports clubs and associations and, according to Sport Ireland’s 2021 ‘Researching the Value of Sport in Ireland’ report, is worth an estimated €1.5bn to the exchequer.

The 2022 Volunteers in Sport Awards is  supported by the National Network of 29 Local Sports Partnerships, including Roscommon Sports Partnership.