2010 40 Under 40 Awards

Ingredients for success in our list of honorees

Somebody once said that you’re starting to leave your youth behind you when you pick up a box of cereal and read about the ingredients inside rather than the toy.  Our 40 under 40 honorees here today are at that wonderful age when the toy in the box is still a delight, but they’re increasingly coming to appreciate the importance of the ingredients too.

It’s an age when the limitless possibilities of youth collide with the sometimes harsh realities of life in the various fields of endeavour represented here today. And what sets these 40 young women and men apart is how they are successfully bringing their youth and energy to bear on the ‘grown-up’ challenges and demands of their chosen careers.

The achievements of our very special guests honoured in this magazine are all the more admirable given the difficult economic circumstances during which they’ve been learning the ropes in recent years. Our business achievers have perhaps most directly been exposed to the icy blast of the financial downturn, but straitened times have impacted on them all; on athletes and artists, for instance, on Gaeilgeoirí and community activists. But invaluable lessons in determination and perseverance will have been learned that will stand our honorees, and by extension our society as a whole, in good stead when the green shoots peek through the ice.

Yes, the Belfast Media Group today honours the stirling contributions that our 40 under 40 have made thus far to the economic, social and political life of our great city; but much more importantly, we look forward to the many years of success and service that lie ahead of them all.

Maria McCourt EDITOR, Belfast Media Group

This years recipients of the 2010 Top 40 Under 40:
Andrew Todd
Brian Magee
Anto O’Kane
Fiona Shannon
Scott Wilson
Todd Kelman
Dessie Donnelly
Sue Ramsey
Gerard Carlile
Cliodhna Craig
Charlotte Dryden
Brian McMullan
Milene Fagan
Mal Duffin
Kerry Calvert
Diarmaid Ua Bruadair
Geraldine Hughes
Dara Barrett
Thomas Whiteside
Jason Kennedy
Sean Muldoon
Joan Burney Keatings
Harry Connolly
Jonathan Wilson
Mark Lunney
Sean Largey
Feargal Mac Ionnrachtaigh
Conor Allen
Krishan Tandon
Suzanne McIlveen
Aaron Abernethy
Tim Mairs
Ann Rodgers
Colma McKee
Adrian Wilson
Beverley Addis
Caroline Wilson
Conall McDevitt
Chris Johnson

Click on the image below to read the 2010 magazine.

Liam Murphy May 14, 2012

Big man of GAA celebrates in style

Veni, Vidi, Vinci . I came, I saw, I conquered, was the powerful message sent back to Rome by Julius Caesar when he won a war in Zela (currently known as Zile in Turkey. After spending two days with the Gaels of Glengormley, Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh might well have sent a similar message back to headquarters. Throughout the two days he won the hearts of all who met him as he demonstrated his love and passion for the Irish language and Gaelic games.

Columnists May 13, 2012

That’s not the way to do it as summer nears

THERE’S nothing funnier for children to watch than a long-suffering wife getting battered with a cudgel by a short-tempered violent husband – or so you’d think if you watched a seaside Punch and Judy show.

Colin Millar May 12, 2012

Blues make it a double

Linfield replicated their end of season celebrations from 12 months ago as they lifted their second trophy in the space of a week, defeating Crusaders 4-1 in Saturday’s Irish Cup final.

Andersonstown News May 11, 2012

My marathon highs and lows

HIGHLIGHTS 1. Sheltering in City Hall with marathon veteran from New York Fr Brian Jordan — chaplain to the trade unions of the Big Apple — before the 9am start while thousands were getting drenched outside waiting for the Lord Mayor Niall Óg to sound the starting horn (gun for off apparently decommissioned).

Columnists May 11, 2012

Who calls the shots in Europe?

I enjoy elections. I enjoy them so much, I was delighted when the Fianna Fáil wheeze of introducing electronic voting machines backfired, leaving them (and the taxpayer, of course) with machinery that couldn’t be used and cost a packet to store.

Andersonstown News May 4, 2012

Taking the needle

THERE’S that drip again. It’s like a malfunctioning tap only the drops aren’t falling into a cold, hard sink – they’re falling into Squinter’s head. Again. Perhaps he should explain. For more years than he cares to remember, Squinter has been plagued with sinusitis, which we won’t go into too deeply here, except to say it is the blockage of a series of passages inside the head and surrounding the nose.