Help Ballyshannon's Coláiste Cholmcille win €50,000 prize for development of sport

Coláiste Cholmcille, Ballyshannon, are one of only four schools in the country with a chance to win €50,000 for the development of sports and Ladies' Gaelic Football - and you can help them out!

Over the last number of weeks, the school and the local community have been busy collecting stamps and promoting the Lidl plus rewards programme in collaboration with Ladies Gaelic Football.

To vote for Coláiste Cholmcille and give them a chance to win the top prize please click here

In the first phase of the competition, Coláiste Cholmcille collected a huge 1,158 stamps which was 193 booklets. They topped Ulster for the most stamps collected and were delighted to receive three sets of jerseys for the Girls' Gaelic teams. 

As part of the same competition, each school who collected 50 booklets was allowed to write a letter to Lidl and explain why they would deserve €50,000 for their school and how they would use it to develop Ladies Gaelic Football and sports. Coláiste Cholmcille's did the trick! They're now in the final four nationally, with St Mary's Mallow, Co Cork; Presentation De La Salle, Co Carlow and Claregalway College, Co Galway.

The winners will now be decided on a public vote. You can vote multiple times a day. Share with family, WhatsApp groups and various team groups and get them to vote too. Every vote counts, all you have to do is click on the link below and vote. Thank you! The deadline for voting is Monday, February 12. 

“We want to thank everyone for their support and getting behind the school, it really is appreciated,” the school said. "We’re thrilled to announce that Coláiste Cholmcille has been shortlisted for this amazing prize and is guaranteed one of the runners up prizes of €10,000 for our school initiatives and Girls Gaelic in the school.

“We had an extremely exciting day last month when Lidl representatives visited the school and interviewed our football manager Ann-Marie Coleman, Cora Fagan our principal and two of our Senior players, Dairin Sweeny, and Lauren Foy. They also took footage of the girls for the promo video which represents all three teams in the school, our U-14, U16 and Senior Girls.

“This has kickstarted the online public vote on Lidl Ireland’s Social Media Account, which will determine the allocation of the four prizes to the selected schools in each province.

“We need all the help we can get, and we encourage everyone to vote and gather as much support as possible. The team with the most votes will win the grand prize of €50,000. 

"This money would benefit the school and go towards more sports equipment for training the girls' and boys' teams. Invest in TY Programmes such as CPR, refereeing courses, nutritional talks, and cooking demos, this could benefit all our sporting teams. Our numbers have doubled in the last few years and it's great to see such an interest.

"We have 50 girls who signed up for U14 girls training this year and with the help of the TYs it is an immense success. We as a school are absolutely delighted with our achievements so far, we would like to thank Lidl Ireland for this wonderful opportunity and supporting the growth of Ladies Gaelic Football in our school and community."