Uachtarán na hÉireann, President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins presented the 2024 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad at a ceremony at Áras an Uachtaráin on Thursday, January 30.
Three Irish Americans are among this year's ten recipients - Patrick Leahy, Stella O'Leary, and Mary O'Neill.
A former Democratic Senator for Vermont, Leahy was a key supporter of Irish immigration reform in the US, as well as the Good Friday Agreement, during his time in the Senate.
January 30, 2025: President Michael D. Higgins with former Senator Patrick Leahy.
O'Leary, who founded the Irish American Democrats Political Action Committee in 1996, was appointed in 2022 by US President Joe Biden to be the observer to the International Fund for Ireland (IFI).
January 30, 2025: President Michael D. Higgins and Stella O'Leary.
O'Neill, meanwhile, is an attorney based in California and a past president of the Irish American Bar Association.
January 30, 2025: President Michael D. Higgins and Mary O'Neil.
The Presidential Distinguished Service Awards were established by the Irish Government following the 2011 Global Irish Economic Forum as a means to recognize the contribution of members of the Irish diaspora and were first awarded in 2012.
To date, 120 people have been conferred with the award.
Speaking at the award ceremony on Thursday, President Higgins said: “The Presidential Distinguished Service Awards enable us, as a nation, to recognise those members of our global family who have contributed, in their different ways, so significantly to Ireland’s reputation on the international stage as a country that understands the migratory experience, its challenges, responsibilities and the part that transience plays in all of our shared lives.
"This evening’s awardees follow in the footsteps of all those others, heralded or unheralded, feted or forgotten, whose quiet determination to make a contribution beyond the self makes us all proud of them and whom we also remember here today.
"That spirit of generosity, and those qualities of an inward being and an inclusive outward gaze which so exemplify the best of our Irishness, have been practically and magnificently demonstrated by our honoured guests through their lives, their work, and their contribution of distinguished service to Ireland and to Irish communities abroad.
"Mar Uachtarán na hÉireann (As President of Ireland), may I thank you deeply for representing Ireland so well, and for your personal efforts, service, sacrifices, and contribution to the achievement of excellence in your various fields. Mo bhuíochas libh uilig.”
January 30, 2025: Presidential Distinguished Service Awards for the Irish Abroad ceremony.
Also on hand for Thursday's ceremony was Tanaiste Simon Harris, who said: “The Presidential Distinguished Service Awards is an important opportunity to celebrate the profound global impact of the Irish diaspora.
“The Ireland of today is modern and diverse and this diversity is reflected in our awardees tonight who are spread across four continents and work in various areas of expertise.
“Some of those that received the award tonight are Irish citizens, others can trace their Irish heritage though generations and some hold great affinity to Ireland, Irish culture and values.
“Each of them has had a profound impact on the lives of others and this is why they are deserving of our recognition tonight.”
Following the conferring ceremony in Áras an Uachtaráin, Tánaiste Simon Harris hosted a dinner at Dublin Castle in honor of this year’s awardees.
Recipients of the 2024 Presidential Distinguished Service Awards:
- Seamus Coleman - Britain - Arts, Culture & Sport
- Aduke Gomez - Nigeria - Arts, Culture & Sport
- Rosalind Scanlon - Britain - Arts, Culture & Sport
- Prof. Enrico Terrinoni - Italy - Arts, Culture & Sport
- Orla Kiely - Britain - Business and Economic Development
- Sr. Teresa McKeon - Sierra Leone- Charitable Works & Advocacy
- Mary O’Neil - USA - Inclusion & Equality
- Pam O’Mahony - Australia - Irish Community Support
- Patrick Leahy - USA - Peace, Reconciliation and Development
- Stella O’Leary - USA - Peace, Reconciliation and Development
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