Two Laois schools have exhibited at the Certified Irish Angus Schools’ Competition held in Croke Park.
The two schools in question were Portlaoise College and Clonaslee College, with three students involved from each school.
Making the trip to Dublin from the event were Maily Culltion, Ali Harding, Keelin Moore from Portlaoise College, who’s exhibition was entitled ‘Women in Agriculture’
Ceilidh Maher, Laura Costello and Emma Kelly represented Clonaslee College with their exhibition, ‘Our Farms.’
Now in its 11th year, the Certified Irish Angus (CIA) Schools’ competition challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves for beef production for two years.
It aims to promote the CIA brand while communicating the care and attention required to produce quality beef for consumers.
2024 saw the highest ever number of applicants to the initiative – 188 school groups from across the country – which the CIA say demonstrates “the continues success of the initiative.”
The judges include representatives from across the agri-food industry including sponsors ABP and Kepak as well as the Irish Farmers Association (IFA), Agriland, Bord Bia, and many more.
The five schools that best demonstrate an understanding of the competition, along with innovative project ideas will be announced later this year at the National Ploughing Championships in September.
On completion of the project, each of the finalists receives the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors which amounts to an average €10,000 per group.
The overall winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.
Speaking at the event, Minister for Education and Youth Helen McEntee said: “This is a momentous occasion to celebrate the passion, creativity and enthusiasm of our youth.
“This initiative not only tasks students with learning practical skills, but also encourages each participating group to develop and demonstrate their own ambition and innovations too.
“The offline nature of the competition is a perfect complement to class-based learning and it is excellent to see students from rural and urban areas engaged.”
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