Mr Paul O’Sullivan, Chairman of Naomh Olaf GAA Club, Sandyford, Dublin, has presented St Benildus College Stillorgan with an Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
At a ceremony in the school, the Principal, Mr Seán Mulvihill, accepted the defibrillator on behalf of St Benildus College in the presence of the teaching staff.
In a short address to the assembled staff Paul O’Sullivan said that Naomh Olaf GAA Club was delighted to present St Benildus College with the AED. He thanked them for their ongoing support of Naomh Olaf GAA Club both on and off the pitch and hoped that this would continue in the future.
Seán Mulvihill said that he was delighted to accept the AED on behalf of the school and thanked Naomh Olaf for its gesture. He said that it was important that the school possessed an AED and it was poignant that Cormac McAnallen, a gifted Gaelic footballer, was also a young and popular teacher in St Benildus College before his death from sudden cardiac arrest in 2004.
It was largely due to the death of Cormac that the Irish public became aware of the issue of sudden cardiac death among young people.
Naomh Olaf GAA Club has a long and proud association with the school and uses the college grounds for its juvenile games. Significantly, many of its players and mentors past and present are or were pupils of the school and as such the bond between club and school is strong.
St Benildus College, Upper Kilmacud Road is the school in which Cormac McAnallen completed his teacher training.
The Cormac Trust was set up after the sudden death of Cormac McAnallen in the morning of 2nd March 2004.
The following are its four objects:
- To raise awareness of sudden cardiac deaths in young people, and its causes;
- To promote cardiac screening for young people, especially for athletes;
- To provide education and information to raise awareness at government level and among other authorities as to the value of providing facilities for the screening of young people;
- To provide automated external defibrillators (AEDs) for sports clubs in the local region, for the use of the entire local community, and to train people in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and the use of defibrillators.
Cormac’s sporting achievements:
Cumann Naomh Pádraig, An Eaglais
Tyrone MFC (2): 1996, 1997
Tyrone IFC: 1997
Tír Eoghain
Ulster MFC (2): 1997, 1998 – latter as captain
All-Ireland MFC: 1998 – as captain
Ulster U-21 FC (2): 2000, 2001 – both as captain
All-Ireland U-21 FC (2): 2000, 2001 – both as captain
Ulster SFC: (2): 2001, 2003
NFL (2): 2002, 2003
McKenna Cup: 2004 – as captain
GAA Young Footballer of the Year: 2001
Ulster GAA Writers’ Personality of the Year 1998 & Footballer of the Year 2001
Belfast Telegraph GAA Personality of the Year: 2001
GAA All-Star: 2003 (as full-back)
Ollscoileanna (QUB & UCD)
Sigerson Cup: 2000
Graduated from Queen’s in 2000 with B.A. in History, and in 2001 with Postgraduate Diploma in Computer-Based Learning
Dublin SFC: 2002
Graduated from UCD in 2002 with Higher Diploma in Education (first-class honours) Graduated in 2002
Queen’s University Graduate of the Year: 2004
Uladh
Represented Ulster at basketball from U-14 to U-17 levels
