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Irish Liverpudlians are honoured
By Tony Birtill
Two people from Liverpool’s Irish community have been recognised
in the New Year’s Honours list.
Sister Brigid Halligan, who is the head teacher at Bellerive Catholic
College in Sefton Park was awarded the OBE for services to education.
She has been in the teaching profession for 38 years and joined Bellerive
Grammar School, as it was previously called, as an assistant maths teacher
in 1979.
She said she felt “humbled” to have been nominated for the
award but that nothing could have been achieved without the support of
others.
Tony McGann was awarded the OBE for service to the community in the Vauxhall
and Kirkdale areas of north Liverpool.
He was awarded the MBE in 1989 in recognition of the way he rallied the
Liverpool-Irish community in which he lived when the Vauxhall area was
being re-developed in 1980 following the closure of the Tate and Lyle
sugar refinery.
They refused to move out to distant council estates and instead came together
to create a new housing estate in their own area.
He has continued his work as a community activist and his ‘can-do’
attitude has inspired other working-class communities throughout the country.
He said he was dedicating his award to his family and close friends who
had stood by him during all the highs and lows of recent years.
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