Another award for Meath's Ciaran Caulfield

Fergal Lynch

Published: Thu 21 Jan 2021, 2:39 PM

Meath minor and Trim wing back, Ciarán Caulfield, has been honoured by Electric Ireland today as the winner of the 2020 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition Award for Leinster.

The awards saw minors from all four provinces of Ireland being honoured for their outstanding off-the-pitch contributions in their communities during 2020.

Caulfield, who also picked up a player of the week away when Meath beat Westmeath in the Leinster MFC last November, received the award for organising a 500km socially-distanced run, which helped raise vital funds for the heart-warming ‘Do it for Dan’ campaign.

REPRO FREE***PRESS RELEASE NO REPRODUCTION FEE*** EDITORIAL USE ONLY2020 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition Awards Announcement 21/1/2021Meath Minor, Ciarán Caulfield, pictured following his announcement as the Leinster winner of the 2020 Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition Awards. The awards were established by Electric Ireland to recognise Minors in all four provinces of Ireland, who have gone above and beyond in their community during the challenges of Covid-19. The other provincial winners include Tomás Lynch (Munster), Michael Quinn, Josh Schnell, Shane McKenna, and Niall Óg McGuigan (Antrim, Ulster), and Jack Beirne, Andrew Jordan and Mark Rogers (Roscommon, Connacht).Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Electric Ireland Photo by ©INPHO/Electric Ireland

The 'Do it for Dan' campaign was set up to raise funds for one-year-old, Daniel Donoher so that he could receive life-saving treatment for a rare spinal disease.

In March 2020, Caulfield's school team, St Patrick’s CS Navan, qualified for the final of the Paul McGirr Cup however, due to the outbreak of Covid-19, the final was ultimately cancelled.

Caulfield, who was captain of the team, realised morale amongst his teammates was quite low and saw the fundraiser as a chance to lift the spirts of his teammates and friends, while also raising vital funds for ‘Do it for Dan’.

These unique Electric Ireland GAA awards took into consideration the difficulties experienced in 2020 by players and communities across the country and aimed to bring a major moment back into the lives of this age group.

The awards were judged by All-Ireland winning Tyrone minor, Colm Cavanagh, former minor Kilkenny forward, Aidan Fogarty and representatives from the GAA and Electric Ireland.

“Electric Ireland is delighted to recognise Ciarán with the Leinster Electric Ireland GAA Minor Special Recognition Award for their outstanding contribution to society in 2020," said Edel McCarthy, Head of Sponsorship & Brand at Electric Ireland.

"In what has been an extremely challenging year for all, and in particular, this age group, Ciarán stood up and made an incredible impact not only on his community, but on Irish society with his incredible fundraising efforts.”