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Ireland's most inspirational community groups have been revealed

Good Causes
Good Causes

Good causes come in all shapes and sizes, but what they all have in common at their very heart are, ordinary people doing extraordinary things. 

The National Lottery Good Cause Awards seek to recognise these worthy individuals and groups each year and celebrate their work. 

Now in its second year, more than 480 entries from around the country were submitted to the awards. From this pool, a panel of expert judges narrowed it down to 143 'Good Causes' that were named county winners.

Then just 36 regional winners were selected to progress through to the national final, a Gala Awards Dinner in Dublin on November 2.

A Traveller youth advocacy organisation, a heritage group based on a tiny island off the coast of Cork, Ireland's only dedicated publisher of books by children, a scuba diving club and an aerial dance troupe are amongst the finalists. 

For more news on the National Lottery Good Causes Awards see here.

Last year's overall winner, Children's Grief Centre from Co Limerick. Pic: Supplied

The awards celebrate work in six main categories: Sport & Recreation, Health & Wellbeing, Heritage, Arts & Culture, Community and Youth. A seventh category, Irish Language, has a special award to be announced on the night too, in recognition of outstanding work done to promote the Irish Language.

The National Lottery Good Cause Awards were created to honour and showcase the inspiring work being done in local communities across Ireland thanks to National Lottery Good Causes funding.

The Dublin Wicklow Mountain Rescue Team were the winner of the Sport & Recreation category in 2018. In this video, Ken Battigan recalls his incredible mountain rescue story:

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National Lottery CEO, Andrew Algeo, said the number and calibre of entries this year was fantastic. 

'We were overwhelmed at the level of entries we received. Now in its second year, we had over 480 applications from every County in Ireland spanning all six categories,' he said. 

'We want to show how people, organisations, projects and sports clubs are doing extraordinary things in their local communities. This is work that often goes unrecognized and through these Awards we aim to change that, and also help to highlight to the people of Ireland, the good that their participation and support of the National Lottery is having in local communities across Ireland.'

Nearly 30 cent in every €1 spent on National Lottery games goes back into the community and last year alone, more than €226 million was raised by participants of the National Lottery for good causes.

For more news on the National Lottery Good Causes Awards see here. 

The National Lottery Good Causes Awards 2019 finalists are...

Pic: Supplied 

Dublin 

Sport: Dalkey Scuba Divers

Health & Wellbeing: Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

Arts & Culture: Dance Theatre Ireland

Heritage: The School of Irish Archaeology

Community: Spinal Injuries Ireland

Youth: Sphere 17 Regional Youth Service 

North (Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan)

Sport: Liquid Therapy, Donegal

Health & Wellbeing: Rossinver Community Development Company, Leitrim

Arts & Culture: Kids’ Own Publishing Partnership, Sligo

Heritage: Donegal G.A.P Heritage & History Group, Donegal

Community: Breffni Community Development, Leitrim

Youth: Involve, Donegal

Midlands (Roscommon, Longford, Westmeath, Laois, Offaly)

Sport: Laois Sports Partnership, Laois

Health & Wellbeing: Cuisle Cancer Support, Laois

Arts & Culture: Helium Arts, Westmeath

Heritage: Abbeyleix Bog Project, Laois

Community: Shannonbridge Community Services Group, Offaly

Youth: YoYo Youth Café (Youth Work Ireland Midlands) Westmeath

South (Cork, Tipperary, Waterford, Kilkenny, Wexford)

Sport: St. Patrick's Snooker Club, Wexford

Health & Wellbeing: Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Kilkenny

Arts & Culture: The Walls Project, Waterford

Heritage: Bere Island Projects Group, Cork

Community: Family Carers Ireland, Wexford

Youth: No Name! Club, Kilkenny

East (Louth, Meath, Kildare, Carlow, Wicklow)

Sport: Greystones Lawn Bowling Club, Wicklow

Health & Wellbeing: Irish Wheelchair Association Carlow

Arts & Culture: Centre For Creative Practices, Wicklow

Heritage: Tea Lane Graveyard Committee, Kildare

Community: Omeath District Development, Louth

Youth: Drogheda ABACAS Special School for Children with Autism, Louth

West (Mayo, Galway, Clare, Limerick, Kerry)

Sport: Lahinch Swim Club, Clare

Health & Wellbeing: Bergerie Trust, Limerick

Arts & Culture: Fidget Feet Aerial Dance Theatre, Limerick

Heritage: Ireland Reaching Out, Galway

Community: Social Action Group Rathmore, Kerry

Youth: Southhill Hub, Limerick