St Brigid's NS, Drumcong and Gaelscoil Chluainín win in prestigious ‘Someone Like Me’ national art competition

Junior County Winner: St Brigid's NS, Drumcong. Class Group: 2nd Class pupil Martha McKeon Project Description: This poster shows children with different abilities all playing together

placeholder image — Junior County Winner: St Brigid's NS, Drumcong. Class Group: 2nd Class pupil Martha McKeon Project Description: This poster shows children with different abilities all playing together

St Brigid's National School, Drumcong and Gaelscoil Chluainín, Manorhamilton are celebrating being named Junior and Senior County Winners respectively of the prestigious national art competition, Someone Like Me.

This will see them join over 40 other schools to compete for the much sought-after national title at an online national awards ceremony to be held on Thursday, February 3.

Senior County Winner: Gaelscoil Chluainín, Manorhamilton. Class Group: 5th Class pupil Lilly Maye. Project Description: This piece shows four people with different abilities that are all friends.

Someone Like Me, which is organised by the National Disability Authority, attracted more than 1,800 entries from national schools across the length and breadth of the country.

The competition has been designed to be a national celebration of the things that unite children of all abilities and, over its six-year history, more than 8,000 children have taken part, creating a tangible contribution to developing more positive attitudes towards persons with disabilities.

During the last school term of 2021 teachers and their pupils right across Ireland worked through special lesson plans which challenged them to respond artistically and creatively to the theme of Someone Like Me, while, at the same time, appreciating and respecting similarities and differences in people.

The judges were particularly impressed with the submissions from pupils and teachers at St Brigid's National School and Gaelscoil Chluainín, selecting them as County Winners based on their insightful and inspirational responses to the theme.

The competition, which offers a range of prizes up to the value of €750, was open to all primary school pupils from junior infants to sixth class and more than 1,800 entries were received from individual pupils, class groups and whole schools right across Ireland. Entries ranged from posters and collages to large sculptural installations and multi-media pieces.