A man who has mentored and recorded the work of young rappers and songwriters has been announced as the Cork Person of the Year.
Garry McCarthy was given a standing ovation when he received the accolade at the 33rd annual awards ceremony in the Metropole Hotel on Friday.
Joe Duffy, who stepped down from his role as RTÉ Radio One Liveline presenter last year, was named an ‘Honorary Cork person’ and former Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay was inducted into the Cork Person of the Year Hall of Fame.
Mr McCarthy, who leads the non-profit community music centre The Kabin Studio in Knocknaheeny, and who is known creatively as GMC, has been a key figure in the music industry for more than 20 years.
This studio was the birthplace for the hit song The Spark, which got more than 1.5bn views on TikTok and 9m views on YouTube.
The track was performed by a group of children, many from a direct provision centre in Lisdoonvarna, Co Clare, together with children from the northside of Cork City who attend The Kabin.
McCarthy has organised more that 2,500 music workshops through his GMCBeats and Song-in-a-Day projects.
These initiatives provide an inclusive environment for young people to express themselves and gain experience with recording technology.
His recent work includes virtually mentoring young international artists and composing the soundtrack for the award-winning film Christy.
“I’m shocked with this, especially with the amount of legends in this room. I love working with the kids and now even the grandparents are rapping in Knocknaheeny. It’s like one big family up there,” McCarthy said.
He was chosen as the winner by the judges, the respective chief executives of Cork City Council and Cork County Council, Valerie O’Sullivan and Moira Murrel,l and was presented with his award jointly by Lord Mayor of Cork Fergal Dennehy and the Mayor of Co Cork councillor Mary Linehan-Foley.
Meanwhile, the legendary The Dixies drummer Joe Mac, who is approaching his 90th birthday, was presented with a ‘Supreme Cork’ award in recognition of his decades of contributions to Cork music.
This surprise presentation was made by previous Cork Person of the Year winner Shane Casey aka Billy Murphy of The Young Offenders.
Joe Mac said he was “overwhelmed” by the honour. He proceeded to tell a few jokes and then said: “I have to sit down, I’m shagged.”