Local children excel in Rotary Young Writer Competition

For the third year in a row, Mullingar children have excelled at the Rotary Young Writer Competition. A short story by Lisa Smyth from St Colman’s National School, ‘Sandland’, was both the regional and national winner in the Junior category – coming first out of all the entries in Ireland.

Also from St Colman’s, Isabella Bradley was the regional winner of the Intermediate competition with her poem, ‘The Recovery of the Sick’. On Wednesday May 8 a prize-giving ceremony was held in Mullingar Library to present the regional winners and runners-up with their awards. Pat Webb, president of Mullingar Rotary Club, welcomed everyone and thanked all the schools who participated for “getting behind the initiative”. He also thanked everyone for their support of the Rotary Club, which he said would not exist “without the generosity of the people here in Mullingar”.

Dónal Lawlor of Mullingar Rotary Club, who was one of the competition judges, spoke next. Dónal was delighted to see how the theme of this year’s competition, ‘rebuilding’, inspired children “in many different ways”.

“We had sand creatures rebuilding their homes, and a Lego volcano was built and then smashed to pieces. We had the loss of an arm, the rebuilding of Ukraine, friendships were repaired and conflicts were resolved. We had recovery from illness, and life-changing events such as the loss of a spouse and a child. And one was about turning creatures you have created from jealousy and greed into love and compassion. So that was a different thing altogether. It was great to just see that variety in the entries,” said Dónal.

“Creative writing is like painting a picture but painting it with words. It allows young people to express themselves, because a lot of the time at home and at school is taken up with listening to what parents and what teachers say. When we get a chance to write we can express ourselves, let people know how we see the world, what’s going on in our minds, what we are imagining. And that’s the beauty of creative writing… And the great thing about it is that everybody is unique and everyone has their own way of expressing themselves,” he added.

The other members of the judging panel, Gemma Curran and Ciara O’Hara, read the two winning entries aloud before the prizes were presented. After everyone had received their book tokens and award certificates, Dónal addressed the winners, their teachers and their families again.

“I want to say a particular thanks to our colleagues in the Royal Society for sponsoring this competition. I want to thank the library and Deirdre Broderick, in particular, for letting us use this space. I think it’s a very appropriate place. I want to thank my fellow judges, and the local newspapers for covering the competition, and the school principals for allowing the time to be made available for this, the teachers of course, and the pupils who have all taken part. It’s a brilliant result,” said Dónal.