Rochfortbridge Round-Up

Well done to Aine O"Brien and Joanne Beattie from St. Joseph"s Rochfortbridge, who won a third level scholarship from the Minister for Education and Science, Batt O"Keeffe, T.D for achieving top marks in their Leaving Certificate.The scholarship was presented to the two girls in the University of Limerick Concert Hall on Sunday, March 7.The scheme is set to provide financial assistance to many top performing students who completed their Leaving Certificate in 2008.A total of €30 million was contributed to the scheme by JP McManus, and throughout its duration, some 1,300 students from all over Ireland are set to benefit from the scheme.The scholarships have been set at €6,750 per annum.'Speak Out'In other news from St. Joseph"s Secondary School, four groups of Transition Year students took part in the Irish Times Young Social Innovators (YSI) 'Speak Out' competition on Wednesday, March 11.The 'Speak Out' which was held in Griffith College Dublin, saw students present a three minute long drama, that discussed various issues facing teenagers today.The four projects St. Joseph"s students focused on was alcohol, the Chernobyl disaster, anti-social behaviour and disability. One group, who in their sketch highlighted the issue of sexually transmitted diseases, featured in Thursday"s edition of The Irish Times newspaper.Other topics covered by students from across Ireland included homelessness, teenage suicide, drug abuse, and the pressure on teenage girls to be thin.Clean-up success!Rochfortbridge Tidy Towns Committee held a clean-up day on Saturday, March 14, and to great success.Dave Raftis, PRO for the group said 'We had a marvellous clean-up day. Despite being windy, and a bit chilly, volunteers came well wrapped up'.So with pickers" at the ready, and the litter bag waiting to be fed, a large group of volunteers headed off on planned routes, and chased the litter out of the "Bridge!'We were very fortunate that it didn"t rain, and everybody was in great spirits. Our little helpers done a great job, including Leah Harris, Chelsea Jessop, Ryan Harris, and Richard Harris, and were that hungry for more litter busting, they then went to their own estate of Brookfield and cleaned the whole area,' said Dave.'Mission accomplished, we all then headed home for a well earned cupp"a tea, and to watch Ireland win in the Rugby against Scotland!'The Tidy Towns Committee would like to thank everybody who participated for there time and commitment.The next Tidy Town"s Committee meeting will be held on Thursday, March 26.