Read all about the winners of the Silver Surfer Awards 2015, presented at a special ceremony at The Helix in October 2015.
Overall Winner - Silver Surfer Award
Retired science and chemistry teacher Margaret Mullett from Rathgar, Dublin was this year's winner of the overall Silver Surfer Award 2015.
Margaret was inspired to get online after she lost her husband, George, to a genetic disorder called haemochromatosis, an overload of iron in the system, just six weeks after being diagnosed. If identified early enough, haemochromatosis can be easily treated.
Determined to ensure that no other family would suffer a loss like her own, Margaret used the internet and digital media to build a national awareness campaign, highlighting the dangers of haemochromatosis and urging members of the public to get themselves tested. Since she began in 2005, her work has focused new attention on the illness and more than 20,000 people have been diagnosed.
Winner - New to IT Award
The New to IT Award went to Michael Monaghan from Nobber, Co Meath. In 2012 Michael, then a mini-bus driver for children with special needs, suffered a serious stroke and had to retrain himself in many things.
He started with an iPhone, learning to use Viber to send messages and photographs. He now reads the papers, pays his car tax and most recently sorted out his water grant online while using skype to keep in touch with his family.
Winner - Hobbies on the Net Award
The Hobbies on the Net Award went to 83-years-young Stanley Jerrard-Dunne. Stanley is a vintage car enthusiast, researching, sourcing and buying parts online, but his real passion is writing.
A self-professed science-fiction anorak, his first book, entitled The Adam and Eve Chronicles, is sold on Amazon in Kindle format and tells the story of a group of scientists who come up with an unusual way of overcoming the problem of over-population.
Winner - Golden IT Award
Corkman Philip O’Donovan was the winner of the Golden IT Award. Every morning at 7.30am, more than a hundred people in Ireland, the United States, Australia, the Netherlands and Britain wake to a ‘thought for the day’ email message from Philip.
He has also used his computer to write a book about a local specialist school for children with complex disabilities – the Lavanagh Centre – and still does the taxes for family members and his local church as well as designing his own greeting cards using old family photos.
Winner - IT Tutor of the Year Award
Pat Power from Waterford was the winner of the IT Tutor of the Year Award, which recognises the efforts of the hundreds of people across Ireland who volunteer with Age Action’s computer training programme, Getting Started. Pat has coordinated 15 courses in Waterford, recruiting learners and new volunteers along the way.