Joe Bonnar, vice chairman of the association and MC for the night welcomed the large crowd to the Mansion House and thanked the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Naoise Ó Muirí, for the use of the stunning venue. A native of Glenties himself, Joe welcomed last year’s winners, Anne Marie Ward and Hugh Greene’s (RIP) representative, Mary Harte. 
The Lord Mayor of Dublin welcomed the large Donegal contingent to the Mansion House and revealed that they flew the Donegal flag over the Mansion House for the entire week after Donegal had won the All-Ireland as a mark of respect! Given the large crowd in attendance the Lord Mayor joked that the Mansion House could be christened “Arás Thír Chonaill” for the night!
Anne Marie Ward spoke of her achievements during the year, in particular, starting the year as the first European to qualify as a member of the International Ice Swimming Association, which required her to swim a mile in under 5°C. This resulted in invitations to participate in swimming in various locations including the Russian Winter Swimming Championships in Siberia which took place before Christmas. Anne Marie also travelled to Africa as a guest to swim in a major event along the North African coast aimed at promoting peace in North Africa and the Middle East. This year, the year of the Gathering, she hopes to bring a “gathering of swimmers to take to our waters in 2013”. She has been and continues to be an excellent ambassador as Donegal Person of the Year and her achievements this year again demonstrate why she was such a worthy winner last year. 
Anne Marie shared the accolade with Hugh Green, who sadly passed away during the summer of 2012 after a long battle with cancer. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam naofa! Mary Harte represented Hugh Greene, RIP, at the announcement on Monday night. Mary visited Hugh at his home in New Zealand in 2012 to present the award to him. He was extremely proud of Raphoe and Donegal and said that winning Donegal Person of the Year was “the greatest achievement of my life”. Mary also noted that for a small village, Raphoe has had the honour of producing three winners of this prestigious award, her father, Paddy Harte, Sir Gerry Robinson and most recently, Hugh Green. A great accomplishment for a small village!
Cathaoirleach, Sorcha Ní Dhomhnaill spoke of how the Donegal Association has gone from strength to strength in recent years. “The Donegal association, Dublin was born in 1935 when a great sea disaster occurred off the coast when the boat from Burtonport to Arranmore capsized and 19 people drowned. A group of Donegal people living in Dublin set up a special fund to help the victim’s families – from this was born Cumann Thír Chonaill, B.Á.C. The Association was born as a ‘charity’ that we as Donegal People help each other or as they say in Irish ‘ní neart go cur le chéile’ nó ‘ar scaith a chéile a mhaireann na daoine’ translated means ‘united we stand, divided we fall’ – this is still the motto of the Association whenever or wherever we can we help each other!” 
Much to the anticipation of the crowd in attendance, she finished by announcing the Donegal Person of the Year – “This man who has brought pride and honour to our county at a time when we could only see doom and gloom, Jim Mc Guinness, Pearsa Thír Chonaill 2012!”
An enthusiastic Martin McGettigan, President of the Association, spoke of Jim’s many achievements in 2012. Most importantly the pride and joy he brought to the people in Donegal who waited 20 years for the return of Sam Maguire and the elusive All Ireland title for the county. While Jim’s success has been a remarkable story, it highlights that with the right vision & leadership, combined with encouragement & dedication, anything is possible. Jim brought something truly positive and inspirational to the people of Donegal, at home and around the world and he lifted our spirits at a time when it was greatly needed! 
Jim attended the event with his wife, Yvonne, and said he was humbled to be in such an historic building with so many Donegal people present to accept the award. He spoke of the hard work, effort and commitment of all the players, support team and management who worked tirelessly over the last few years resulting in the success of 2012. Since the victory in September, Jim said he has been in the privileged position of seeing firsthand the pride and joy that the Sam Maguire brings to the people of Donegal. He thanked the Donegal Association for the special award and said it was unique to have the outgoing & incoming Donegal Persons of the Year who are so involved in the sporting world.
Jim Mc Guinness will be inaugurated as The Donegal Person of the Year 2012 at the Annual Gala Ball on Saturday 23rd February in the Regency Hotel, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. This promises to be a very special night with the excitement starting to build now after the announcement on Monday night! Tickets are limited so please contact the Secretary at 086 8077965 or Public Relations Officer at 087 2439317 to reserve your tickets. 
