The Taoiseach Bertie Ahern will be the guest of honour at the 1999 Canon Hayes National Sports Awards to be presented in Tipperary on November 26th. The annual awards ceremony will take place at the Dundrum House Hotel where the outstanding sportsmen and women of the year at national, county and local level will be honoured by the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre in Tipperary Town.

This year the awards are being sponsored by The Irish Times for the first time. Also for the first time there will be an outstanding achievement award to recognise a national or international achievement prior to the last 12 months.

The sports editor of The Irish Times, Malachy Logan, welcomed the sponsorship of the awards scheme which "reflects everything that is positive and uplifting about sport at a local and national level".

The Irish Times will also make a £1,000 donation to the Danny Noonan Trust Fund. Nineteen-year-old Danny Noonan of Garbally, Tipperary, was paralysed as a result of an accident while playing in a junior rugby match for Garbally last January.

The chairman of the Canon Hayes Recreation Centre, Paul Grisewood, is on the organising committee of the centre, which he said is "recognised throughout the country as the provider of first-class sporting and recreational facilities."

The Canon Hayes Recreation Centre is still accepting nominations for sportsmen and women who have excelled in their chosen discipline at the three levels during the year, ending this October. Submissions (including a career summary of the nominated person) can be sent to the Sports Awards Committee, Canon Hayes Recreation Centre, Tipperary Town (e-mail chayes@iol.ie) before October 22nd.

The national award will be chosen by the following selection panel: Eamonn Coghlan (former Olympic athlete), Mick Doyle (former Irish rugby coach), Malachy Logan (sports editor, The Irish Times), Liz Howard (PRO, Tipperary GAA), Noel O'Reilly (Irish Youths soccer coach), Billy George (chief sportswriter, The Examiner), Micheal O Muircheartaigh (RTE).