Thursday, 19 September 2024
The Tip O’Neill Irish Diaspora Awards return for 2024 to the Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana on Friday, 27th September, from 7pm. Our final esteemed awardee for 2024 is Boston native Billy Higgins.
Born and raised in South Boston, Massachusetts, USA, Billy Higgins is a businessman and community leader who is renowned for his charitable endeavours and the founder of the Southill Childrens Fund in Boston in 1985. This fund is a non-profit organisation whose vision is “to provide access and opportunity to children who are in need”. Their fundraising “helps provide the tools necessary to encourage education, a key element of overcoming hardship” and has assisted hundreds of children access opportunities to better their lives and prospects.
Through Billys leadership and commitment The South Hill Childrens Fund is constantly finding ways to help raise money to fund field trips, extra-curricular activities, and provide the necessary tools to achieve their goals. Their achievements are many and money raised is in the many hundreds of thousand, these achievements are even more monumental considering all staff work on a totally voluntary basis.
Billy Higgins has done immense work in supporting the education of children with special needs both in Boston and here Ireland. He has repeatedly donated to the Patient Social Fund of the Ballaghderg Pre-School for Children with Special Needs in Donegal and has continued to support the school and its work for many years. His direct contributions have assisted in greatly improving the school and its ability to accommodate the many varying and complex needs of its students.
His tremendous work in both Donegal and Limerick has been acknowledged by both the President and the Taoiseach in the past and it is only right his dedication and contribution to Donegal is recognised with this year’s award.
Donegal County Council is proud to present Billy Higgins with the Tip O’Neill Irish Diaspora Award. The 2024 tip O’Neill Irish Diaspora Award Ceremony will be held at the fabulous Inishowen Gateway Hotel in Buncrana on Friday, 27th September from 7pm.
