A WOMAN from Cork who used to make up stories to encourage her granddaughter to eat her porridge has been named this year’s Grandparent of the Year.
Pauline O’Regan (71) was nominated for the prize by her 10-year-old granddaughter Emelia Deane from Maynooth, Co Kildare, who described her as “the best gran in the world”.
Emelia was encouraged to enter the competition by her mother, Claire Deane, who spotted an advertisement for Grandparent of the Year 2011 in The Irish Times.
“Emelia has always enjoyed writing poems and so when she saw the advert decided it would be great to write one about her grandmother,” said Ms Deane.
In her competition entry, Emelia singled out how she got on so well with her grandmother despite the gap in years between them and the fact they lived far apart.
Emelia, who is in fifth class at Chóca Naofa in Kilcock, Co Kildare, described her grandmother as someone who “shared so much of her heart with others” and who “never gets cross”.
“She’s very kind and thoughtful and she used to make up lots of stories about a girl called Mary Ellen so that I’d eat all the food I don’t like,” said Emelia.
Dermot Kirwan from Friends of the Elderly, which is one of the sponsors of the competition along with Cadbury Roses, said yesterday that Ms O’Regan was a worthy winner.
“Pauline is a wonderful grandmother and her granddaughter Emelia’s winning nomination shows that we don’t have to live close to our grandparents to have a close and loving relationship with them,” he said.
Ms O’Regan, who has five other grandchildren, said she was thrilled to win this year’s award.
“It was a shock but also a lovely surprise to find out that my granddaughter thought so highly of me as to enter my name for the competition,” she said.
Now in its fifth year, the competition marks national grandparents’ day which takes place on Sunday.
A special event is to be held in St Stephen’s Green in Dublin between 2pm and 4pm to mark the occasion.
As part of the prize, Ms O’Regan was awarded a three- night travel break, a Cadbury’s hamper and a €200 voucher courtesy of the Irish Professional Photographers Association.
