Bob Seward, founder of the Cork Academy of Music, has been named as Cork Person of the Year 2017 for his ground-breaking work in music education on the northside of Cork city.
This is the 25th Year of the annual awards.
Mr Seward set up the voluntary, not-for-profit school of music in 1994 on Cork's northside to provide an education in music literacy and instrument skills for people living in a traditionally high-unemployment area of the city.
"Our original aim was to use music as a tool for social inclusion, so we located the Cork Academy of Music in an area of the city with relatively low educational achievement and high unemployment levels," explained Mr Seward.
Earlier Ted Crosbie, one of the previous owners of the Irish Examiner Newspaper, was given the first Hall of Fame Award for his dedication to Cork city over six decades.
