Student Volunteers Win €500 Awards, Silver Medallions and Invitation to Gala Dinner Celebration in Dublin;

Nobel Prize-Winner John Hume to Chair Selection of Two "All-Ireland Youth Volunteers of the Year" in March;

An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern to Present Awards

The top 20 youth volunteers in Ireland were named Finalists today in the first annual Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards programme, which honours young people in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland for exemplary acts of volunteerism. The awards programme is conducted by Pramerica Systems Ireland Limited in partnership with the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) and the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI).

Each of the 20 Finalists will receive €500, an engraved silver medallion and an invitation to a gala awards dinner on March 22 in Dublin. Two of them will be named All-Ireland Youth Volunteers of the Year at that time.

The 20 Finalists are:

Christopher Carlin, (17) of Poleglass Belfast a senior student at La Salle Boys' School in Belfast, who has dedicated countless hours to volunteering for three different charities: Northern Ireland Children's Enterprise, The Welcome Centre, and Street Reach.

Stephanie Carrabine, (17), of Ballina, Co. Mayo, a sixth-year student at St. Mary's Secondary School, who raised €60,000 to provide new facilities for a multiple sclerosis therapy centre.

Suzanne Dillon (18), of Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick, a sixth-year student at Salesian Secondary School, who has made a difference in the lives of others through a variety of volunteer activities including Share-A-Dream and the Order of Malta.

Maria Doherty (18), of Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, a student at St. Joseph's Grammar School in Dungannon, who has played a leadership role in planning a diverse range of personal and social development activities for young people in her rural community.

Clodagh Doyle (17), of Athy, Co Kildare a fifth-year student at Scoil Mhuire in Athy has been a volunteer with special needs children since she was 11 years of age.

Laura Duggan (16), from Middleton, Co. Cork is a fourth year student at St. Mary's High School and has devoted much of her summer vacation over the past three years to working with disabled people at a local summer school.

Nicola Kavanagh, (18) of Arklow, Co Wicklow, a sixth-year student at St. Mary's College, is an active volunteer with a local Special Olympics club, working with disabled athletes, handling public relations activities, and helping with fund-raising.

James Levis, (17) of Ballydehob, Co. Cork, a fifth-year student at St. Fachtnas De La Salle, Skibbereen, has been involved in fund-raising efforts for numerous charities, including M.S. Ireland, C.L.M. and Schull Inshore Rescue.

Amy Martin, (17) of Finglas, Dublin, a student at St. Michael's Holy Faith in Glasnevin, Dublin spent her transition year looking after children and adults with special needs at St. Michael's House and has encouraged other transition-year students to join her volunteer efforts.

Chris McAllister, (18) of Ballyclare, Co. Antrim, a final-year student at Ballyclare High School, is involved in variety of volunteer projects including helping raise funds to benefit needy people in Romania, working at the 2006 Special Olympics Ireland Games in Belfast. He is currently engaged in a year of community service at a local old people's home.

Ciara McCrink (19), of Jonesborough, Newry, Co. Down, a final-year student at St. Paul's High School, took on the role as Youth Club Leader when her local youth club was about to close. She managed to combine that with providing support for a young disabled boy who required daily physiotherapy.

Kirsty McKenna (18), of Newry, Co. Down, a final-year student at Our Lady's Grammar School, raised more than £11,000 for two charities to mark the 10th anniversary of her mother's death and to respond to the threatened closure of a local hospice.

Aisling McMullan (18), of Castlewellan, Co. Down, a final-year student at St. Malachy's, has volunteered for over a year with the Down's Syndrome Association, helping with the organisation of day trips and weekend holidays for children with Down's Syndrome.

James Millea (16), of Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, a fifth-year student at Ardscoil na mBráithre, set up a local youth committee that has raised more than €9,000 to benefit children affected by the nuclear-power accident in Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Aoife Ní Ghoill (17), of Inís Mór, Oileáin Árann, Co Galway, a sixth-year student in Gairmscoíl Éinne, Cíll Rónáin, mounted a community effort that removed six tonnes of rubbish from nine beaches in her native Oileáin Árann.

Sasha O'Brien (17), of Ennis, Co. Clare, a sixth year student of Colaiste Muire, raised €24,000 to increase awareness and discussion of the issue of suicide in her community.

Philip O'Callaghan (16), of Castleknock, Dublin, a fifth year student at Castleknock Community College, was inspired by the loss of two close friends, who were sisters, to become involved in fund-raising, where he raised over €6,000 for Ireland's first children's hospice, The Lauralynn Children's Hospice.

Emma O'Kane (17), of Dungiven, Co. Derry, a senior student at St. Patrick's College, serves as chairperson of the St. Vincent De Paul Youth Society, organising events to raise funds to provide for the elderly and volunteering many hours visiting the sick, the lonely, the addicted and those suffering from disabilities.

Lisa Sheerin (17), of Derry, a final-year at St. Mary's College, is a dedicated volunteer with St. Vincent De Paul and Amnesty International, she also serves as a class counsellor for first-year students at her school.

Patrick Travers (18), from Carnew, Co. Wicklow, is a sixth-year student at Coláiste Bhríde. He helped raise awareness and €7,500 to benefit impoverished people in Africa.

"All of these extraordinary young people exemplify the spirit of community that is so important to the future of our cities, towns and rural areas," said Henry McGarvey, managing director of Pramerica Systems Ireland. "By honouring them, we hope not only to give them the recognition they so richly deserve, but also to inspire others to follow their example."

The 20 Finalists were selected from 235 post-primary and second-level students nominated by their school principals last November, based on criteria such as personal initiative, creativity, effort, impact and personal growth. The Finalists will be presented with Certificates of Achievement at their schools by officials of Pramerica, NAPD and GTCNI over the next month. Then, they will be honoured at a gala awards dinner at the Burlington Hotel in Dublin on the 22nd of March, where they will receive their engraved silver medallions and €500 awards, presented by An Taoiseach Bertie Ahern.

In addition, two of them will be named All-Ireland Youth Volunteers of the Year by a selection committee chaired by John Hume. These two students will receive additional €500 awards, gold medallions, and €1,000 grants for nonprofit, charitable organisations of their choice. They also will be flown to Washington, D.C., in early May to take part in the national recognition events for the American Spirit of Community Awards programme.

Also serving on the selection committee are NAPD Director Mary McGlynn, GTCNI Registrar Eddie McArdle, Concern CEO Tom Arnold and Henry McGarvey of Pramerica.

The Pramerica Spirit of Community Awards are modelled after The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards in the United States, which were created in 1995 by Pramerica's parent, Prudential, Inc.* (PFI). Since then, more than 200,000 young Americans have participated in that programme, and more than 75,000 of them have won awards for their volunteer activities. The programme has been widely praised by educators, government officials, parents and community leaders, and has involved many notable Americans, including Jimmy Carter, Barbara Bush, Magic Johnson, Richard Dreyfuss, John Glenn, Madeleine Albright, Rudy Giuliani, Whoopi Goldberg and Colin Powell. The programme was introduced in Japan in 1997, South Korea in 1999, and in Taiwan in 2000, where PFI has significant business operations.

Pramerica Systems Ireland, which opened in 2000 in Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, and now has more than 550 employees, provides essential computer-technology and client-contact services to PFI businesses around the world. Pramerica's Information Technology Group develops software and other systems solutions for PFI's business groups and its Operations Group functions as a back-office contact centre for PFI business groups across the United States.

* Prudential Inc. is not affiliated in any manner with Prudential plc, a company incorporated in the United Kingdom.