Buncrana's John McCarter named the Donegal Person of the Year for 2024

Buncrana man John McCarter admitted it’s “humbling” to be named the Donegal Person of the Year for 2024.

The announcement took place in Leo’s Tavern, Crolly, where the Donegal Association Dublin said: “It is difficult to put into several paragraphs the work John has carried out to promote Donegal on so many different levels through his involvement in business and in many different organisations.”

“He is a respected and highly successful businessman. His family name is synonymous with the clothing and textile industry in the North West of Ireland.

“As Sales Director of the family business, William P McCarter and Co Ltd he was centrally involved in merging that business with the mighty Fruit of the Loom Inc in 1987. With his fellow directors, he was pivotal in expanding that commercial entity which developed into the largest employer in the north-west and the largest clothing manufacturer in Ireland.”

John will be inaugurated as The Donegal Person of the Year 2024 at the Donegal Person of the Year Gala Ball on Saturday, March 29, in The Bonnington Hotel.

Alongside his business career, John has served in a voluntary capacity in many community organisations which have a strong influence in tourism, culture and economic life of Donegal.

He is the Chairperson of the Board of Fort Dunree, a national heritage site and a tourist attraction that preserves and celebrates the unique shared history between Britain and Ireland.

There, he has driven the transformation of Fort Dunree from a part time seasonal offering into a major national tourist attraction. The Fort is currently undergoing a €12.5m redevelopment, the largest tourism funding ever awarded to a Donegal project.

This development will see the Fort become a world-class visitor attraction generating economic growth and employment in the area.

In 1987 John was a founder director of Donegal County Enterprise Fund and was its chairman from 1997 to 2008. He was Director and Vice Chairperson of Donegal County Enterprise Board until its cessation in April 2014 as well as being a member of the Donegal County Development Board.

He was elected as a community director to the newly formed Inishowen Development Partnership (IDP) and served as its first Chairperson from 2008 to 2011.

In 2003 John was a founder member of Inishowen Friends of Messines. In that role he is totally committed to extending the work and ethos of the International School for Peace Studies. Under the auspices of ISPS, Fort Dunree and IDP he has delivered conflict transformation courses to a diverse audience from all sides of the political and religious divides. In 2006 he joined Lough Swilly RNLI as a Deputy Launching Authority, then from 2011 to 2024 he was its Lifeboat Operations Manager and is currently its Chairman.

John’s dedication to the tourism industry in Donegal has seen him recently appointed as Joint Chairperson of the Inishowen Destination Experience Development Plan.

In this role, he promotes a collaborative approach to driving growth in tourism in Inishowen with an emphasis on promoting sustainable economic growth. Internationally John has been instrumental in the development of strong and lasting relationships between Donegal, Canada and the USA through his involvement with the Laurentic Forum, the Ulster Canada initiative and the New York Irish Centre. Further, John is a member of the Tip O’Neill Diaspora Awards Committee.

On the announcement of the award, John said that it came as a huge surprise, and it is a great honour as it is an award from his own people who he has worked with and lived with, and this makes it of special significance.

“It is quite humbling,” he said. “I am delighted to be awarded Donegal Person of the Year having seen many of the people who have received the accolade over the years."

He also said that out of all the things he has ever done his aim was to see the community grow and prosper in a way that would benefit the most people, and not for personal recognition. He added that from his business involvement, he developed an interest in the community and in turn building a better Donegal for all. He spoke about the can-do attitude of Donegal people in all the organisations he has been a part of and the great people he has worked with down through the years.

“Being awarded Donegal Person of the Year last April 2024 was amazing,” the outgoing 2023 Donegal Person of the Year, Moya Brennan, said.

“The night itself was memorable with nearly 500 people there, family, extended family, many many friends from Donegal and lots of wonderful musicians. A night of fun music and craic was had and that was the beginning of my year.

“I’ve opened festivals all over Donegal, launched a wonderful art exhibition and an RNLI Lifeboat Station in Aranmore. I received lots of invitations to special events, particularly in Donegal. I always champion Donegal wherever I go but being called Donegal Person of the Year made it special. It’s wonderful that Donegal honours people from the county in all walks of life. I have received many accolades around the world as a singer and musician in my lifetime, but I would say that being acknowledged in my own county is special and one of the nicest things that has happened in my career. Míle buíochas Dún na nGall.”

Chairperson of the Donegal Association in Dublin Kevin McFadden added: “‘It is a privilege for the Donegal Association Dublin to announce John Mc Carter as our next Donegal Person of the Year. His contribution and commitment to the county is evident by his involvement with the many committees and boards he has given his time to.

“He has worked for many years for the economic development of the county as well as developing tourism in Donegal. Donegal is a very different place to live and work and visit today than what it was 40 years ago, and John is owed thanks and an acknowledgement for his part in that. We are a large county geographically and we are delighted the award is going to Inishowen this year. We look forward to officially inaugurating John as the 2024 Donegal Person of the Year on the 29th of March in the Bonnington Hotel Dublin.”