WELL DONE to Marian Harkin, who carried off the big prize this week at the MEP of the Year awards in Brussels.

The independent MEP for Ireland North and West won the outstanding achievement award for her work to make 2011 the European year of volunteering.

Meanwhile, Mairéad McGuinness ensured that at least one Fine Gael MEP is a winner this year – she may have been passed over as FG presidential candidate, but she got a consolation prize by topping the agriculture and rural category.

There were two other Irish nominees. Unfortunately for Gay Mitchell (having a terrible year), he was beaten to the employment and social affairs gong by Pervenche Berès of France.

And Labour’s Nessa Childers, recently in the news following her spat with Proinsias De Rossa over the Kevin Cardiff nomination to the Court of Auditors, lost out to Portugal’s Marisa Matias in the health category.

We presume Proinsias voted for her.

Harkin is in New York this weekend at the UN General Assembly, where the first State of World’s Volunteerism Report is being presented. She contributed to the report as a member of the UN High Level Advisory Board on Volunteerism.