Seven things: Inspirational Donegal figures receiving national attention

Jennifer Doherty: Most Inspiring Award nominee

Jennifer Doherty (37) inspired the country with her outstanding climbing achievements this year – becoming the first blind person to conquer Ireland’s seven biggest mountains.

Jennifer, who is from Buncrana, has been blind since birth. She always loved nature and the outdoors but hadn’t done much hiking, when the mountaineer Jason Black, who is also from Donegal and features later in the list, got in touch to see if she fancied joining a trip to Everest Base Camp in Nepal in 2022.

The trip was life-changing, says Jennifer, and it immediately left her wanting more. She plans to climb Kilimanjaro in the future and struck upon the idea of the seven Summits Challenge to keep her fitness levels up.

“The hardest thing for me in terms of climbing while being blind is finding people to hike with at the level I want to or am capable of,” she says.” Sometimes people are nervous guiding me and when they are I can feel it straight away so I can’t properly relax. But Jason’s constant motivation and belief in me has encouraged me to do things I never would have thought of before."

Jennifer loved the challenge and found she met lots of friendly and helpful people from all around Ireland. Of course, some sections were challenging, especially the final day in the Derryveagh mountains and the Seven Sisters. “I thought I might never make it to the end but giving up was never an option,” she says.