A 26-year-old PR executive from Co Mayo has become the first Irish recipient of the Young European of the Year award.
Mr Adrian Langan, a self-confessed "gung-ho pro-European", has been recognised for his commitment to the success of the Treaty of Nice referendum that took place in Ireland last October.
Mr Langan's passion for the campaign comes from his frustration at the failure in June 2001 of the first referendum to allow a number of eastern European states to join the European Union. "I was very annoyed because there just simply wasn't a strong enough campaign from the Government for the first vote.
"There seemed to be no attempt to sell the idea to the Irish public," Mr Langan told The Irish Times.
"The day after the vote I received at least four e-mails from Polish friends, all aghast at the result.
"Almost immediately afterwards we decided to start our own non-political party campaign because this vote was just too important.
"It was obvious that the Irish people felt that they had been taken for granted in 2001 and the referendum was defeated more by the politicians than the political issues".
Mr Langan was the driving force behind the Irish Alliance for Europe campaign.
Its vigorous Yes campaign concentrated on invigorating the disaffected youth electorate.
Its success was epitomised by a nearly 50 per cent turn-out for the successful vote, as opposed to only 34 per cent when the treaty was rejected only 18 months previously.
It is estimated that nearly all the new voters were in favour of the Nice Treaty.
The Young European of the Year award acknowledges Mr Langan's outstanding ability to promote the "European idea" to young people.
"We were determined to be independent, to present the case beyond the middle-aged, grey-suited bureaucracy which young people were presented with."
Mr Langan was responsible for developing a more coherent campaign that included appearances on The Late Late Show and Prime Time.
"The success was a group effort for people prepared to get off their arses and do something, to spend their evenings and their weekends planning such a campaign, willing to spend their Saturdays handing out leaflets in the rain."
Mr Langan was clearly thrilled and suitable abashed about the personal award, emphasising that he never thought of it as 'his' campaign.
"It was exciting being part of a group focussed so wholly on an objective.
"It was easier to give up your time when you knew others were doing it as well".
The award will be presented to Mr Langan during a prize-giving ceremony planned for Berlin in November.