Environmental Youth Speak Competition Winners

Winning pupils from Newry, Mourne and Down District Council’s annual Environmental Youth Speak competition attended a special awards ceremony at the Downshire Council Offices on Thursday 27 March.

Fourteen pupils from primary and secondary schools were selected from forty online submissions to present their speeches in front of a three-person panel. The annual competition, organised each year by Council aims to encourage debate on sustainability issues, culminates with the crowning of the Junior and Senior Environmental Youth Speak Champions 2025. 

Ten primary school pupils and four secondary pupils were selected to perform their speeches in person at the celebration event. Primary school pupils spoke on the topic ‘Welcome to the World of Waste Wizardry’; ‘Lesson One: Making Our Waste Disappear’, while Secondary schools were asked to speak on ‘Back to the Future. Learning from the Past to Reduce Our Carbon Footprint’.  

After much deliberation the judges chose as this year’s overall winner, in the Junior Section,  Aoibhinn Cunningham from St Malachy’s Primary School, Castlewellan and Paddy Keenan from St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook was the senior winner.

Environmental Youth Speak is a fun public speaking competition organised each year by the Council to encourage debate on sustainability issues. On presenting the winning pupils with their prizes, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Deputy Chairperson, Councillor David Lee-Surginor welcomed all the pupils and said, “I really enjoyed hearing all your speeches today. Congratulations to our overall winners Aoibhinn and Paddy and to all of today’s speakers. You presented imaginative, informative and engaging speeches. Reducing the impact we have on the environment is vital and you all have demonstrated excellent knowledge and awareness of the need to change how we live in order to reduce waste and our carbon footprint.”

Runners up in the junior section were Aralynn O’Hare, St Jospeh’s Primary School, Carnacaville and Olivia Tumilty, St Colman’s Primary School, Saval. Runners up in the Senior section were Ella McKee, Kilkeel High School, Emma Hearne, Our Lady’s Grammar school and Eva Kelly, Sacred Heart Grammar school.

Deputy Chairperson Lee-Surginor presented the Junior and Senior Champions with a trophy for them to keep. All pupils who attended also received a commemorative certificate and a voucher to acknowledge their contribution.