Sr. Mary Sweeney SJC receives a Presidential Distinguished Service Award

08/12/2016 NO REPRO FEE, MAXWELLS DUBLIN
Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad.
Pic shows President Michael D. Higgins presenting Sr. Mary Sweeney with her award in the Peace, Reconciliation category at Áras an Uachtaráin.
Sr. Mary Sweeney has worked tirelessly for over forty years, often with limited support, in the extremely challenging environment that is Sierra Leone. Through her efforts in establishing the St Joseph’s School for the Hearing Impaired in Makeni, she has given education, skills training and life opportunities to the most vulnerable of people; children with a disability in a developing country. Notably, she remained in Makeni to keep the school open during the brutal civil war in the 1990s, and more recently she has played a significant role in coordinating much-needed support for the Ebola response in Makeni. Sr. Sweeney has in recent years widened her ambitions and focussed her energies on promoting the development of a curriculum for the training of teachers for special needs education in Sierra Leone.
PIC: NO FEE, MAXWELLPHOTOGRAPHY.IE

Dungloe-born Sr. Mary Sweeney, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cluny, received a Presidential Distinguished Service Award from President Michael D. Higgins at Áras an Uachtaráin on 8 December. Speaking afterwards Sr. Mary said: “This award recognises the many people who have supported my missionary work in Sierra Leone over the past … Continue reading Sr. Mary Sweeney SJC receives a Presidential Distinguished Service Award