The hostess with the mostest

A Gort student is among five young women from across the country who will compete for the prestigious No Name Club Hostess of the Year title on Saturday.

Suzanne O’Donnell will attend the National Youth Awards Ball in the Lyrath Hotel in Kilkenny this Saturday.
The 17-year-old will be among 10 finalists who will be interviewed on stage by the host, while they will also perform a party piece. Suzanne and her fellow hosts and hostesses all recently completed in-depth interviews with the adjudicating panel.

“I was at the ball for the first time last year but the good thing is that Cathal Broderick, who is in our club, was in it last year and he won Host of the Year and he told me how the whole process works so I have that advantage, so at least I know what to expect,” she told The Clare Champion.

Suzanne has only been in the No Name Club for two years and recently won the Connaught Hostess of the Year title, bringing her to the finals this weekend.

“I was originally involved in Foroige, which is similar to the No Name Club but for younger people. Then when I was old enough, I went on to the No Name Club. My older brother was involved in the No Name Club at the time so I decided I would give it a shot but to be honest, I didn’t know much about it until I joined,” she explained.

Since joining the club, Suzanne has learned lots about the No Name structures and about herself. “Originally, I thought it was your basic standard youth club but then as I went on I realised it was an outlet for young people without the pressures of drink and drugs. The way I see it is like it is a home from home. You go there and you don’t feel pressure about anything so it is exactly like being at home and that is the kind of atmosphere that Gort No Name Club try to encourage,” she outlined.

The Gort Community School Leaving Certificate student is involved in lots of activities through the club but when it comes down to it, she enjoys the easy-going evenings watching a movie as much as the more challenging events the club organises.

“In the club, I am involved in the Tidy Towns. The  No Name Club is in conjunction with Tidy Towns. I am involved in movie nights that we do. We host discos too. Typically, we all help out with everything. On an average night, we would watch a movie. We usually get the latest DVD say, and have a majority vote between two options. We have a big screen for that too. We are lucky to have the facilities. We meet in the VEC centre now but before that the club used to meet in the Town Hall,” Suzanne added.

For people unfamiliar with the No Name Club structures, Suzanne explains the role of host or hostess.

“My role as hostess in my own club is to keep activities going, to make sure that it doesn’t get to the stage where we are sitting around doing nothing looking at each other. If we have one week where we don’t do something or don’t have plans, then I would make sure that we organise something for the next week.

“At a national level, there is talk about utilising the role of Host or Hostess of the Year more but at the moment it is more within the club and it is mainly to keep the momentum of activities going and stuff like that.”

Suzanne is also involved in charity work and will complete a daring challenge next month. “I am doing a charity skydive with my boyfriend on May 6 in Birr, Offaly and that is in aid of Cystic Fibrosis Ireland. I picked that charity because I know someone with the disease and I have seen a lot of what the organisation does.

“I have been to a lot of small fundraisers for Cystic Fibrosis Ireland and I can see that they are not that well known and the disease, if you ask the average person what Cystic Fibrosis is, they don’t know much about it, so it is great to raise a bit of awareness about it and try to make it better known.

“We are having a quiz on April 12, in Johnny Walshe’s pub in the square in Gort and anyone can go to that. It is teams of four and it begins at 8.30pm. I also have sponsorship cards and anyone who wants to sponsor me can get in contact with me via the Gort No Name Club Facebook page.”

Suzanne hopes to begin studying Arts in NUI Galway in September and will hold the position of Connaught Hostess of the Year until 2014.

“Gort is a very active No Name Club compared to other clubs. I really enjoy being part of it because there is something going on every week. Some clubs just meet once a month, whereas we meet every Friday night and we do something every Friday night.

“For example, lately we had a group of people involved in a dance competition and they were training for that and then others might spend the evening watching a movie, so I really enjoy that element of it. All of that kind of thing is a highlight for me,” she said.

“I’m getting really excited now about the weekend, you know, booking the nail appointments and the tan and things like that and getting the dress sorted so it should be good, I hope so,” she added.

The National Youth Awards Ball is the highlight of the annual No Name Club calendar and takes place in the Lyrath Hotel in Kilkenny. This is the 30th year of the event.