The Blues Awards have been held annually at Queen’s for over 70 years to recognise excellence and achievement in sport across the University. This year will see the inaugural Hall of Fame to honour and celebrate the most distinguished sports men and women among Queen’s alumni, which will now be an integral part of the annual Blues Awards. 

The Hall of Fame will span seven decades, recognising outstanding sports personalities from each decade since the 50s when the Blues Awards were first celebrated including rugby stars Jack Kyle and Trevor Ringland, Judo Commonwealth medal winner Lisa Bradley and many more.  

The first person to be recognised in The Hall of Fame dating back to the 50s is Jack Kyle, one of the greats of Irish rugby, who went on to work as a surgeon after completing his medical degree. The Belfast native was voted the greatest Irish player of all time by the IRFU in 2002 and has also been inducted into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.  

In the 60s, Gaelic footballer Sean O’Neill and winner of three All-Ireland titles along with silver Olympic medalist and world-record breaker for the high jump, Thelma Hopkins will be honoured. 

Billy McConnell, Olympian and one time world record holder for hockey caps will be honoured in the Hall of Fame for the outstanding sportsperson in the 70s. More recently Billy has coached hockey at Queen’s.  

High Jumper, Janet Boyle, who received both a silver and bronze medal in the Commonwealth games as well as taking part in the Olympics will be the 80s Hall of Fame inductee.  

Rugby player Trevor Ringland, who played for Queen’s from 1978 to 1982 will also be honoured for his sporting career in the 80s, which included representing the British Lions in 1983 and 1986, Ireland from 1981 to 1988 and winning the Triple Crown in both 1982 and 1985. He also participated in the first Rugby World Cup in 1987 and made 31 competitive appearances for Ireland, scoring nine tries. A Solicitor and community relations activist, he was also involved in politics and later became Special Envoy to the US in Northern Ireland in 2021.    

Trevor, who is attending this year’s awards, says: “I am delighted to be selected to join the Hall of Fame along with a number of outstanding sports people. I am always grateful to Queen’s University as it provided me with the opportunity to develop as a sportsperson.  I follow the Blues Awards each year with interest and am looking forward to attending this year as we appreciate the sporting talent of our young students.” 

A hattrick of sports people and Queen’s alumni will be honoured for the 1990s including Judo Commonwealth Games silver medalist Lisa Bradley, the first Irish person to climb Mount Everest, Dawson Stelfox and Madeleine Perry who became a professional squash player in 1998. She holds 15 Irish national titles and reached a World ranking number three.  

Dr Lisa Bradley, now a Senior Lecturer in Finance at Queen’s University Belfast, and Senior Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy, began her competitive Judo career in the 1990s. She won silver in the 2002 Commonwealth Games and was twice gold medalist at the World Master Athlete Judo Championships (2006 and 2007). 

Lisa says: “The Blues Awards are always a highlight in the sporting calendar each year. I’m delighted not only to see the inaugural Hall of Fame, but I’m also privileged to be selected in recognition of my Judo achievements. I really couldn't have done it without the support of everyone at Queen's Sport and of course my PhD supervisor Dr Charlie Hickson. Their constant support has kept me going and to keep me striving to do my best, both with my studies and with Judo, which I still love practising regularly." 

Richard Archibald, current Director of Sport NI, took part in the 2004 and 2008 Olympics as a rower and also won Silver medal for World Championship in 2005 and Bronze the following year. Richard graduated from Queen’s having studied architecture.  

The most recent sportsperson to be recognised is Caroline O’Hanlon for both netball and Ladies Gaelic football. Caroline studied Medicine at Queen’s and currently works as a GP. 

The 2023 Blues Awards will be held in the Whitla Hall on Thursday 8th June at 7.30pm

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