A student from St Fiacc’s National School, Graiguecullen, was among the big winners at an annual awards ceremony held in Dublin recently.
Tia Keating, a 6th class student was named as an overall winner in the Green-Schools Poster Competition and received the award at a ceremony held in Dublin city centre last week.
The Green-Schools awards were held to recognise the efforts of primary and secondary students across the country who participated in the Green-Schools Water Programme in the 2024-25 academic year, and to honour the winning students in this year’s poster competition.
The annual event marked the twelfth year of Uisce Éireann’s sponsorship of An Taisce’s Green-Schools programme which supports schools working to gain a Green Flag under the water theme.
The theme of this year’s poster competition was ‘Water is Life’, and participating students were asked to design a poster centring on the theme of water’s intrinsic importance to every aspect of life on our planet.
The response from pupils of the participating schools was phenomenal, with a record 4,300 entries received across the junior primary, senior primary and secondary categories.
The standard of entry was exceptionally high, and the judging panel had a hugely difficult task in choosing their winners.
Twelve regional winners were each awarded a €100 voucher and had their poster professionally framed, while three overall national winners were also announced at the ceremony.
Uisce Éireann’s Head of Customer Operations, Geoffrey Bourke, was on-hand at the award ceremonies and said that the record number of entries was evidence of the Green-Schools Water Programme going from strength to strength around the country.
“The Green-Schools awards are always a wonderful occasion and this year, the quantity and quality of the submissions across the various categories has been truly incredible.
“The vital work being done by Green-Schools in schools across Ireland is clearly bearing fruit in terms of how our young people think about water and the need to conserve and respect it.
“We in Uisce Éireann are proud of our long-standing sponsorship of the programme,” said Geoffrey.
Cathy Baxter, An Taisce Director of Education, said: “The Green-Schools Water Awards are one of the highlights of our year.
“They celebrate the creativity, commitment and teamwork of students and teachers working together to protect one of our most precious resources: water.
“These young people are leading by example and showing that real environmental change begins in our schools and communities. We’re so proud of their efforts and inspired by their impact.”
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