Brian McGuigan is BBC Sport NI’s Unsung Hero For 2021

Brian McGuigan is the winner of this year’s (2021) BBC Sports Personality of The Year Unsung Hero Award for Northern Ireland.

BBC Sport NI’s Nicola McCarthy with Brian McGuigan, BBC Sport NI’s Unsung Hero For 2021

It’s very humbling, but I am the lucky one. I get to spend two hours a week with

my heroes at the Special Olympics. With the GAA, you get a great sense of community. I’ve grown up with the GAA and it’s engrained in any GAA person to give back. There are thousands of people doing it around the country. There are so many more people doing it and deserving than just me."

— Brian McGuigan

Brian was among the first volunteers to get involved with East Belfast GAA - a new club established in 2020 in an area of Belfast not necessarily associated with Gaelic Games.

With an influx of new members, Brian took on the coaching of the Senior Men’s hurling team leading them to their first competitive win coaching a combination of players who had played at County level and those new to the game.

In the spring of this year, he took up the role of youth development officer. He organised and looked after new coaching sessions for up to 100 children aged four to nine from all communities and developed a new team of inexperienced coaches to take the sessions. In the summer Brian also led a summer camp for kids of the same age group hosting kids from all backgrounds including children from refugee families in the area.

As well as helping with the other teams in East Belfast GAA, Brian set up its ‘social hurling’ event alongside his home GAA club, Dungiven GAA, to help introduce those new to the sport of hurling.

Outside of the GAA club, Brian helped set up ‘Titanic Tigers’ in Belfast– a sport activity group for children aged between four and seven with an intellectual disability. He followed this up by setting up a similar group at his home town, Dungiven, this year, the Oak Leaf Lions - giving children from the area the opportunity to interact with other children in a safe environment.

Brian has also volunteered with the Special Olympics for 16 years- a role he says he got into by accident. He also helped to set up two sports groups for children with intellectual disabilities in Belfast and in his hometown of Dungiven.

Brian’s commitment to his clubs and children’s groups sees him regular travel between both areas while holding down a full-time job.

Brian says: "It’s very humbling, but I am the lucky one. I get to spend two hours a week with my heroes at the Special Olympics. With the GAA, you get a great sense of community. I’ve grown up with the GAA and it’s engrained in any GAA person to give back. There are thousands of people doing it around the country. There are so many more people doing it and deserving than just me."

Brian will represent Northern Ireland as one of the 15 finalists for the overall Unsung Hero Award with the winner being announced live on BBC One at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December.