Poem for Ireland
A Poem for Ireland Poetry Competition
The Department of Education and Skills, the public library service and Libraries Development, Local Government Management Agency are holding the A Poem for Ireland Poetry Competition for post-primary schools, as part of the commemoration events for Ireland 2016.
09 May 2016 - Winners of 'A Poem for Ireland' announced
Congratulations to overall winner Róisín Finnegan of Holy Faith Clontarf and the other finalists in the 2016 ‘A Poem for Ireland’ competition

First three places:
1. Róisín Finnegan - Holy Faith Secondary School Clontarf
2. Jane Rigby - St Mary's College, Naas
3. Lucy Ní Dhuiginn - Gael Cholaiste Cheatharlach
Highly Commended by the judges:
Alisa Oriol - Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan
Other Finalists:
Louise Dunphy - Our Lady of Mercy Secondary School Waterford
Fionn O'Sullivan - Newpark Comprehensive, Blackrock
Una Faller - Athlone Community College
Anita Walis - Portlaoise College
Competition Format
Round One: School Competition
06 January - 29 February 2016 | Students in each post-primary school year are invited to submit a poem on Ireland past and / or present for the competition to the Year Head before the 29 February 2016. Poems may be submitted in English or Irish and must be original works. |
29 February - 04 March 2016 | The winning entry for each year should be submitted to your local library branch (see http://www.librariesireland.ie/services-to-schools/post-primary-schools/ for branch details) by the 04 March 2016. |
Round Two: County Competition
March 2016 | A judging panel set up by the local library service will adjudicate on all schools’ winning entries. A county winner will be selected and announced at an awards event hosted by the public library service. |
Round Three: National Final
April 2016 | County winners will be reviewed by a national panel of judges set up by Libraries Development, LGMA and shortlisted to eight national finalists. A national final will take place in April 2016. The national panel of judges will assess each of the eight entries on the day and will award a national winner. A national dignitary will attend and present the prize to the overall winner. |
Prizes
All prizes at local level will be determined by each local authority individually
National Winner: | €1,000 |
National Runner Up: | €500 |
National 3rd prize: | €250 |
National Finalists: | €50 vouchers |
All finalist entries will be uploaded to www.librariesireland.ie, www.askaboutireland.ie and www.scoilnet.ie.