Kabin Studio's Garry McCarthy Named Cork Person of the Year

The Creative Director of Knocknaheeny's The Kabin Studio has been honoured as Cork Person of the Year in recognition of his two decades of work empowering young people through music.

Garry McCarthy, known creatively as GMC, received the award at today's Cork Person of the Year Gala Awards Lunch at the Metropole Hotel. The announcement recognises his work providing mentoring and recording services to young songwriters and rappers through The Kabin Studio, a not-for-profit community music space in Knocknaheeny.

The studio gained international recognition as the birthplace of "The Spark", a track performed by children aged nine to twelve from the Kabin Crew and children from the Lisdoonvarna Crew in County Clare. The song has amassed over 1.5 billion views on TikTok and nine million views on YouTube.

McCarthy has facilitated more than 2,500 musical workshops through his GMCBeats and Song-in-a-Day projects, providing young people with opportunities to express themselves and gain experience with recording technology. The Kabin Studio recently opened a second creative space in Knocknaheeny to meet growing demand.

His recent work also includes virtually mentoring young international artists and composing the soundtrack for the award-winning Irish film, Christy.

Manus O'Callaghan, Awards Organiser, said:

"Garry has made an enormous contribution over the last two decades, both to Cork's rap and hip-hop community and to the young people he has empowered to express themselves creatively. By engaging with young people in a relatable and innovative manner, through the immensely popular mediums of rap and hip-hop music, he has successfully broken down barriers between communities and created unique and valuable artistic experiences in Cork and beyond."

McCarthy was selected from the 2025 Cork Person of the Month recipients by judges Valerie O'Sullivan, Chief Executive of Cork City Council, and Moira Murrell, Chief Executive of Cork County Council.

Brian O'Donovan, RTÉ Work & Technology Correspondent, announced the winner on stage before McCarthy was presented with his award by the Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr. Fergal Dennehy, and the Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley.

In line with the Cork Person of the Year Awards' aim of recognising individuals who have made outstanding contributions to all facets of Cork life, this year's event featured a number of other awards.

Joe Duffy, who stepped down from his role as RTÉ Radio One's Liveline presenter last year, was named an Honorary Corkperson. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to broadcasting and public debate, he was presented with a Republic of Cork passport and an inscribed piece of Cork Crystal. This award also served to recognise the 100th anniversary of radio in Ireland.

Former CEO of Barnardos and weekly political columnist Fergus Finlay was inducted into the Cork Person of the Year Hall of Fame in recognition of his contribution to public life and social justice. Finlay also recently announced the launch of "Grey Matters", a new podcast he is co-hosting with communications consultant Terry Prone.

The Dixies drummer and all round entertainer, 89-year-old Joe McCarthy, affectionately known as "Joe Mac", received a Supreme Cork award in recognition of his decades of contributions to Cork music. The surprise presentation was made by Cork Person of the Year 2024, Shane Casey.

The event also featured a speech from RTÉ Director-General Kevin Bakhurst.

Masters of Ceremonies were RTÉ's Miriam O'Callaghan and Marty Morrissey.

Chief organisers Manus O'Callaghan and Ann-Marie O'Sullivan would like to extend their gratitude to the Cork Person of the Year Awards partners: RTÉ, Cork City Council, Cork County Council, The Metropole Hotel/Trigon Hotels, AM O'Sullivan PR, Cork Crystal, All About Us Video, Masterkabin, Musgrave MarketPlace, and CAVS.