Rachel Lyons – ActionAid Speech Writing Competition Finalist

Congratulations to Transition Year student Rachel Lyons who been chosen as a finalist in the national ActionAid Speech Writing Competition. The competition had entrants from over 100 students, aged 14 to 17, from more than 30 schools across the country. Rachel Lyons is one of just nine finalists selected to deliver their speech in Dublin on Tuesday 3rd March 2015 in the Royal Irish Academy (RIA), Dublin from 2pm to 5pm. There were three topics to choose from, which focused on women’s rights, poverty, education and gender based violence. The quality of speeches was very high, and the team at ActionAid Ireland who selected the finalists were very impressed. CEO of ActionAid Ireland Olga McDonagh said: “2015 is European Year of Development, a time for people to reflect on our role in ending poverty around the globe; we were delighted to see so many young people engaging with the topics of women’s rights, poverty and education. Many of the ideas presented were very interesting and it was difficult to choose our finalists. However, Rachel’s speech really stood out in terms of both creativity and a very high standard of analysis.” . The top two students chosen in the final will travel with their teachers to visit Nepal and to see ActionAid’s Irish Aid funded women’s rights programme first hand. The winners will be chosen by an independent panel of judges.

This is another fantastic achievement in Rachel’s academic career and she continues to be a great ambassador for the school. We wish her the best of luck in the final. Special mention also goes to her teacher Ms Flannery who assisted her with her speech.