On Saturday, January 21st Katie Muldoon travelled to the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny for the National Final of the Lions Clubs of Ireland Young Ambassador Competition. Katie returned from Kilkenny that evening with a Lions Club sponsored place on the Lions International Youth Exchange as a result of finishing second in this highly competitive and very prestigious national competition.

Katie competed against nine young people from all over Ireland who had also qualified through their local Lions Cubs for this year’s final. In a very close competition Katie impressed the judges with her commitment to volunteering and contributing to her local community and to life in Cashel Community School. Katie ‘enjoys volunteering at her local tennis club in Larkspur Park’. She is a ‘go to’ volunteer in Cashel Community School where she is always willing to lead and assist in a variety of school related projects. Katie also volunteers at the Affinity Credit Union in Cashel where she is the youth representative on the board oversight committee. Katie received her Level One tennis coaching qualification this year and enjoys coaching tennis in Larkspur Park and ‘particularly enjoys coaching young people with disabilities in Scoil Chormaic ‘.

Katie is passionate about sport and believes that, ’access to sport and activities is important for everyone’. Katie is totally supportive of plans by the Larkspur Committee to upgrade the Nissen Hut in Larkspur Lark. Katie believes that the Nissen Hut ‘is in need of upgrading and in particular it needs to allow full wheelchair accessibility’. Katie had no hesitation in giving the donation of €250 she received from Cashel Lions Club, as the Cashel Young Person of the Year, to the Larkspur Park Nissen Hut Development Fund.

The judges at the national final had the difficult task of finding a winner among the nine contestants and in particular in deciding between Katie and the eventual winner Flossie Donnelly, who represented Dun Laoghaire Lions Club. Flossie just shaded first place with her project ‘Flossie and the Beach Cleaners’ which is a registered marine environmental charity which focuses on saving our seas and sea creatures from the ravages of plastic pollution.

Cashel Lions Club is extremely proud of Katie’s achievement and thank her for the time and energy she devoted to this year’s competition. A spokesperson for Larkspur Park stated that ‘we in Larkspur Park are super proud of Katie and her achievements to date because we know there’s even more to come’. Cashel Lions Club wish Katie every success in the future and we are confident that she will continue to make a positive contribution wherever like takes her.