Young poet from Mayo selected as a winner in national competition

A young poet from Mayo has been selected as a winner of the ‘Let’s fish’ national poetry competition, which took place earlier this summer and was organised by Inland Fisheries Ireland in conjunction with the Blackrock Education Centre.

Entries were received from across Ireland under the title 'Let’s fish' and the poems revealed how much fish and fishing means to the younger generation.

Dara, from Scoil Phadraig, Newport Road, Deerpark East, Westport, was selected as the winner of third prize in the sixth class category.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) plans to share the winning entries across all social media platforms over the coming weeks. The competition ran from the end of April to the middle of June, with fifth and sixth class students asked to write a five-line poem.

The winners of the first prize will now receive a €100 voucher, the winners of the second prize will receive a €50 voucher, and the winners of the third prize will receive a €25 voucher. The competition was delivered as a fun initiative to help fifth and sixth class primary students to research the Something Fishy online resource and expand their literacy skills during the Covid-19 restrictions.

Speaking about the competition, Suzanne Campion, head of business development at IFI, stated: “We are delighted to announce the winners of the ‘Let’s fish' poetry competition as part of our joint collaboration with the Blackrock Education Centre. We would like to congratulate all of the participants involved and we wish them well as they return to school.”

Something Fishy is an educational programme aimed at primary school pupils aged between 10 and 13 years which informs and educates students on fish, water, angling, and the environment and angling. For more information, visit http://www.somethingfishy.ie.

Here's Dara's successful poem: