Mayo school named finalists in national Our World Awards
PUPILS from fifth and sixth class at Holy Trinity National School, Westport, have been named as finalist in the 2025 Our World Awards.
The school will join 14 other national finalists from across Ireland at a ceremony to be held at Dublin Castle on Friday, May 30.
Holy Trinity NS is one of just 15 schools in Ireland to be in the running for one of nine prestigious Our World Awards comprising the Global Goals, Irish Aid Programme, Rising Star, Creative Star, STEM, School and Community Impact, Global Citizenship Education, an Iontráil Ghaeilge is Fearr and Outstanding School Engagement Awards, as well as the coveted School of the Year Award.
The Westport pupils have been recognised for their thoughtful and beautifully presented project entitled 'A Better World', created as part of their entry to the Our World Awards.
Their project explored how the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are shaping both global and local initiatives - from tackling climate change and poverty to improving access to clean water, sanitation, and promoting world peace.
After learning about the work of Irish Aid around the world, the pupils turned their attention to their own surroundings, examining how the town of Westport and their school are already contributing to a more sustainable and fairer future.
The class reflected not only on what is already working well, but also on the positive actions they can take as individuals and as a school community. They each set personal and group goals linked to the Global Goals, showing how even small steps can lead to meaningful change.
Congratulating Holy Trinity on making it to the national final, Minister of State for International Development and Diaspora, Neale Richmond, said: “I am really looking forward to meeting the pupils from Holy Trinity National School and their teacher at the national final on May 30. I know that there is a great sense of excitement around the event in Dublin Castle.
“I am also looking forward to personally thanking our primary school teachers for their continued commitment, not just to participating in the Our World Awards, but also for nurturing an ethos of global citizenship amongst our young people. It is important that as global citizens we all play an individual and collective part in making the world a better place.
“Each of the projects submitted by the 15 finalists demonstrate an impressive level of insight and understanding of what are complex global issues that have a devastating impact on the most vulnerable in our world.”
Now in their 20th year, the Our World Awards are the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s flagship programme with primary schools which, over its lifetime, has seen thousands of young people become inspired to engage with global issues and take action for a fairer, more sustainable world.