President presents top sport award to unstoppable Talia

The 11-year-old was presented with her award at the Lady Taverners spring lunch at Belfast’s Europa Hotel by special guest, the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese.

Talia, suffers from Celebral Palsy, but this does not stop her from taking part in a variety of sports. She is a member of the Knights Wheelchair Sports Club and paticipates in new age curling, badminton, basketball and football. She is also a member of the Disabiliy Sports NI Boccia Club.

Mary McAleese praised Talia for her dedication. She said that young people who live with disabilities deal with a lot of touch challenges every day.

“They take them on quietly and with a resilience that is awesome and often not known outside their own homes, families and communities. And then they get involved in sport and they shine in ways that make us all so proud.

“To every single young person with disability who has taken part in sports in Northern Ireland I say thank you for the ways in which you have invested in yourselves, in sport and in life itself,” she said.

Founded in 1987, The Lady Taverners is a dedicated fundraising arm of The Lord Taverners and focuses on fundraising for specially adapted minibuses and sport and recreation for young people with special needs. Since 1987 over 6 million has been raised.