Arranmore’s Seán Boyle crowned a national hero!

Arranmore student Seán Boyle has been crowed Ireland’s ETB hero.

Eighteen year old Seán, who attends Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada, picked up the national accolade at this year’s ETB Excellence Awards, held in Croke Park on 27th March.

Each year, the ETB Hero award honours an individual who has made an exceptional contribution to their ETB community and embodies our core values of excellence, care, respect, community, and equality.

Speaking of her pride at Seán for receiving this award, Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada Principal Derval Newman said, “this award couldn’t have gone to a more deserving young person. He’s an inspiration to all of us here in Gairmscoil Mhic Diarmada and to the wider community on Árainn Mhór. His kindness, his drive, and the way he includes and uplifts everyone around him really reflects the best of what education should be. It was a very special day for our school and for Donegal ETB — one we’ll never forget.”

Seán has also written and published “Seán’s Guide to First Aid,” donating all €2,000 in proceeds to Down Syndrome Ireland’s Donegal branch.

Another Donegal ETB school, Gairmscoil Chu Uladh in Béal an Átha Móir, received a Highly Commended award for their work in the community. 

The ETB Excellence Awards took place during ETB Week 2025, which showcases Ireland’s sixteen ETBs and the services they provide to learners of all ages.  

The Awards, hosted by former ETB learner and RTÉ Newsreader Ray Kennedy and featuring a special musical performance by former ETB student and singer-songwriter Tolü Makay, highlighted learner and staff excellence across primary, secondary, further education and training, and youth services.

Opening the event and addressing over 200 staff and learners from across Ireland’s ETBs, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, James Lawless TD said: “Congratulations on winning an ETB Excellence Award. Your dedication reminds us that education is not just about what we learn, it is about what we become. It is about pushing limits, breaking barriers, and striving for excellence every single day. My Department is committed to removing barriers to education and ensuring that opportunities are available to all—regardless of background, age, or circumstance. Education changes lives, and through your efforts, we are ensuring that more people in Ireland have access to learning opportunities that empower them to reach their full potential. True excellence can only be achieved when everyone has an equal chance to succeed.”

The Excellence Awards were the flagship event for ETB Week 2025, which also include:

• the launch of a landmark book on ETBs edited by former Education Editor of the Irish Independent Katherine Donnelly: Education and Training Boards: Shaping the Future, leaving no one behind. It includes a chapter by Donegal ETB on supporting island communities;
• Muintearas’25: a groundbreaking event bringing ETB Irish-medium schools together for the first time to celebrate and commit to inclusive Irish medium education; and
• events across the 16 ETBs to promote their services. 

Education and Training Boards Ireland (ETBI) also highlighted the sectorial core values of equality, community, respect and care throughout the week. Speaking at the awards, Paddy Lavelle, ETBI’s General Secretary stated: “These core values are not a given in today’s world, indeed they are increasingly contested.  ETB Week and these ETB Excellence Awards provide an opportunity for us to champion them: we’re proud of our inclusive approach to education which reaches beyond the ordinary, and brings teaching and learning into communities, to people of all ages and abilities, including the most marginalised groups in society.”

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