Nine Galway girls were among the 130 Girl Guides who received the Irish Girl Guides’ highest award at a special ceremony in Croke Park on Saturday.
The 137 Girl Guides, aged 14-15, travelled from all corners of the country to receive the Trail Blazer Award, and with their families, celebrated reaching the pinnacle of Guiding.
Emily Lyons, Aoibha Monaghan and Rosa O’Connor of Merlin Woods Guides, Galway, are the first girls to receive the award from their unit, which only opened in 2013. Caoimhe McKinstry, Niamh Jennings, Aditi Joshi, Caer Lavelle and Irene Kyne of Moycullen Guides, and Roisin Daly of Cairde Guides, Carnmore, also received the Trail Blazer Award.
Each girl received a Trail Blazer gold pin from Irish Girl Guides (IGG ) President Maureen Murphy and a National Guide Award certificate from IGG assistant chief commissioner Áine Divilly.
IGG president Maureen Murphy said the girls had demonstrated commitment and worked hard to gain the award, and valuable life-skills in the process. "Everyone has put her own stamp on the challenges, which is inspiring. Everyone here has the skills to make a positive contribution to her community and society going forward.”
Irish Girl Guides has approximately 12,000 members. Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,800 volunteer leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women.
