Local Pupils Have Their Say at Environmental Competition

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council hosted pupils from schools across the district at this year’s Environmental Youth Speak Competition. The event took place at The Saint Patrick Centre, Downpatrick on Friday 20 April and was sponsored by waste recycling company, Natural World Products, which also contributed to the winning prizes.

The Environmental Youth Speak Competition is a yearly event designed for young people to encourage debate on waste, recycling and the environment. The event gives those involved a fun way to take part in public speaking and build their confidence while learning about important environmental issues.

Newry, Mourne and Down District Council Chairperson, Councillor Roisin Mulgrew said, “I am delighted to hear our young people speak so knowledgeably about an issue that affects us all. Managing waste and maximising what we recycle is something we take very seriously.

“I was very impressed with everyone who took part in this year’s competition and would like to acknowledge the tremendous effort into researching the issues and how participants expressed views on the topics with great confidence.”

The competition challenged primary and secondary school pupils to impress a panel of judges by delivering an environmentally themed, five minute speech. This year the topics were ‘Food Waste: Brown is the new Black’ for the junior section and ‘If I was Minister for the Environment for a day I would…’ for the senior section.

After a highly competitive morning of speeches, the judging panel chose Conor Hale from St Joseph’s Primary School, Carnacaville as this year’s junior winner and Alannah Geoghegan from Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry as the senior winner.

Runners up in the junior section were Niamh Corrigan from St Malachy’s Primary School, Camlough and Jana Pobloth from All Children’s School, Newcastle. Runner up in the senior section was Lucy Sloan from St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel.