Bláithín O’Mahony, a Transition year student at Castleisland Community College qualified as a regional finalist in the ActionTalks speech writing competition.
The competition, run by ActionAid Ireland and now in its ninth year, was open to all students aged 14 to 17 across Ireland. ActionAid Ireland works with women and children, as they take the lead in claiming their human rights to build a more just world.
This year ActionAid received 143 entries from 40 schools across 16 counties.
Quality of Speech and Delivery
This year’s topics were on climate justice, economic barriers to accessing education and valuing unpaid care work.
Regional finalists are asked to provide a video of themselves reading their speech. This will be graded on the quality of the speech and also on delivery.
Two winners from each of the five regional finals will win a €50 voucher and proceed on to the final which will be held in Dublin in March. This year the overall prize is a €500 voucher for the winner and a €100 voucher for their teacher.
Work in Crafting Speeches
CEO of ActionAid Ireland Karol Balfe said that choosing the regional finalists was extremely difficult this year.
“The quality was very high across the country, and we were heartened by the students’ passion and interest in women’s rights, climate and economic justice, and also by how hard they worked on crafting their speeches,” said Ms. Balfe.
“All at Castleisland Community College wish Bláithín the best in the regional finals of the Action Aid Speech Writing Competition,” said a spokesperson for the college.
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