INAUGURAL SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS:
Students from seven second-level schools were awarded a one-year third-level scholarship in the inaugural Thomas Meagher Scholarship Programme last year.
The winning schools included St Nathy’s College, Ballaghdereen, Roscommon; Glanmire Community College Cork; Stratford College Secondary School, Rathfarnham, Dublin; Colaiste Bríde, Clondalkin, Dublin; Schull Community College Cork; Regina Mundi Cork and Presentation Secondary School, Tipperary.
They had been asked to provide a 90-second video presentation of the various initiatives undertaken by their school, during Flag Week.
Daniel Tansey a TY student from St Nathy’s, captured the Easter 1916 commemorations at his school as well as his school’s fundraising efforts during Flag Week for two charities.
The TY group raised over €2,000 for the charities, including Dylan’s Path to Walk which helped fund surgery to help a local boy with Cerebral Palsy to walk, and Join Our Boys, a Roscommon-based charity established to raise awareness about Duchennes Muscular Dystrophy and to fund research.
Megan O’Sullivan of Glanmire Community College, helped promote the National Flag in her school through video presentations, pin selling and providing information on flag protocol. For their project, second-year students from Stratford College undertook to sell badges and to get to know their community better by hosting a Seachtain na Gaeilge concert in the school. Their efforts earned their school a place as one of the finalists.
Sixth year student Leanne Doherty from Colaiste Bride recorded the historic Flags for Schools Initiative Ceremony in Croke Park and other 1916 commemorative initiatives by her school to earn a scholarship.
Budding filmmaker, Jacob Goode, a fifth-year student from Schull Community College turned creativity into accomplishment when he was tasked with filming his school’s preparation for Proclamation Week (March 10—17) and the flag raising ceremony held at the school.
By filming and editing his school’s preparation for Proclamation Week, and its flag raising ceremony on March 15th, Jacob was awarded a €3,000 scholarship, one of seven recipients in the country.
Caoimhe Sheehan, a fifth-year student in Regina Mundi in Cork, was also one of seven students nationally who was awarded a university scholarship for her entry to The Thomas Francis Meagher Scholarship Programme as part of National Flag Week 2016.
The winning schools, which also included Presentation Secondary School, Tipperary, received their awards at a prize-giving ceremony held in Leinster House on May 16, 2016 with representatives accepting their scholarship certificates at a special presentation lunch.
Presidents from the Foundation’s education partners last year, University of Limerick, University College Cork, NUI Galway, Dublin City University, University College Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin and NUI Maynooth were also in attendance at the gathering which was addressed by the Chairman of the Foundation, Reverend Michael Cavanagh, the Ceann Comhairle Sean O’Fearghail and Senator Mark Daly.