MS ADI Roche, founder of the Chernobyl Children's Project, has been named the 1997 Tipperary Person of the Year. Earlier this month she received a European of the Year award.
Ms Roche is currently arranging to bring 30 ambulances and five aid trucks to Belarus. Plans are also under way for the 1997 summer project - which will bring 1,300 Belarusian and Russian children to Ireland for a month.
Announcing the award in Dublin last night, Mr Jarlath Daly, president of the Tipperary Association, described Clonmel born Ms Roche as "a pioneering figure on the world stage in providing help and hope to those who would otherwise be forgotten. Her love of children who have been afflicted by the horrors of nuclear fall out is unparalled."
Previous recipients of the award include the governor of Mountjoy Prison, Mr John Lonergan; the Tipperary hurling manager, Mr Babs Keating; and champion jockeys Michael Kinnane and Charlie Swan.
The finalists in the Tipperary Enterprise and Development Awards were also announced last night. They include the Canon Hayes community recreation centre in Tipperary town, Carrick on Suir development association, Clonmel youth training enterprise, Gleeson steelworks at Gortnahoe, and the Glen of Aherlow failte society.
