St. Peter’s N.S wins ‘Ireland’s Travel School of the Year’ after huge efforts
St. Peter’s National School , Dromiskin was named ‘Ireland’s Travel School of the Year’ at a ceremony in Dublin Zoo.
Green-Schools presented the school with their award at the event honouring the winners of this year’s Green-Schools Big Travel Challenge 2019. Ten other schools were also awarded on the day for their efforts promoting sustainable and active travel modes to school.
During February schools undertook the Big Travel Challenge, which asked them to concentrate on one sustainable transport mode for two weeks to see if they could achieve real, lasting change in the travel behaviour of their staff and students.
St. Peter’s National School, whose 240 students and staff members come from the Dromiskin area, concentrated on walking, beginning their challenge with 100 students and ending with an outstanding 207 students opting to travel to school on foot. To spread the message of sustainable, active travel the GreenSchools committee visited each class in the school to the run up to the challenge, and used their Twitter account and good relationship with community groups like Tidy Towns to spread the word that they were focused on walking to school.
Green-Schools Travel Manager Jane Hackett said: ‘ This group really showed that a lot can change in a fortnight! Students and teachers are becoming more environmentally friendly and active.’ Unity is high on the agenda for Sinn Féin ahead of the annual Easter commemorations across Louth, according to Cllr. Ruairí Ó Murchú.
The Dundalk South councillor is the main speaker at the Easter parade in Dundalk on Sunday, April 21, which assembles at Market Square at 2.30pm. Cllr. Tomás Sharkey will speak at the Knockbridge event at 2pm on Saturday April 20, while Cllr. Anne Campbell will lead a wreath-laying ceremony at Quay Street in memory of the Watters Brothers at noon on Saturday.
Cllr. Ó Murchú said: ‘Easter commemorations provide an opportunity, not only to remember the sacrifices of the past, but to reinvigorate the vision of the men and women of Easter week 1916.
‘ These have been an extraordinary, chaotic 12 months in the politics of these islands, but Irish unity has become, in the past year, a topic of conversation among a wide variety of people in communities in Dundalk and further afield.
‘People are realising that, with unity, we have the opportunity to build a new, inclusive Ireland from two broken states.
‘We need to continue to discuss and debate what unity means, how it can be achieved and we need to consult with everyone on this island to find the common building blocks for achieving it’.