News
Students awarded for their contribution to school life

By Michelle Crean
Students were honoured for their contribution to school life this week during a special end of year awards ceremony.

Graduating from St Brigid's Presentation this week were: Sarah McGrath Lisa O'Halloran and Mieke Rice. Back: Saoirse Bartlett Sarah Trant Aoibhe Coffey and Jayden Kelliher.

Jade O’Riordan DalyCharlotte O'Shea Caelyn O'Grady graduated from St Brigid's Presentation this week.

First cousins Jessica Heffernan Ava Doyle and Chloe Jones graduated from St Brigid's Presentation this week.

Three generations of Pres Girls Ellen Farndon with her aunt Cliona Hallissy who also teaches in the school and Cliona’s mother/Ellen’s grandmother Mary Hallissy.

SPORTS AWARDS: Students from St Brigid’s received their school awards on Wednesday afternoon. Abbie Finan was awarded Soccer: Player of the Year Chloe Hue Senior Football: Player of the Year Emily Buckley 1st Year Football: Player of the Year Abbey Cronin 2nd Year Football: Player of the Year and Andrea Murphy Junior Football; Player of the Year. Photo: Michelle Crean

MUSIC AWARD: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark presented Saoirse O’Sullivan with the Outstanding Achievements in Music. Photo: Michelle Crean

LCA AWARD: Kara Huggard earned herself the LCA Student of the Year which was announced at the St Brigid’s School awards on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Michelle Crean

MOST VALUED PLAYERS: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark (second left) presented the Senior Basketball: Most Valued Player to Tara Donnellan the Minor Basketball: Most Valued Player to Ciara O’Sullivan and the Cadette Basketball: Most Valued Player to Leah McMahon. Photo: Michelle Crean

SCIENCE: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark (second left) presented the Excellence in Science award to Emma Myers and Jennie O’Mahony while Rita Akhter received the Overall Contribution to STEM. Photo: Michelle Crean

CEIST AWARD: Student Sarah McGrath is pictured with James and Margaret McGrath and Sixth Year Year Head and Acting Deputy Principal Maria Neary after receiving the CEIST Award at the awards ceremony in St Brigid’s on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Michelle Crean

Graduating from St Brigid's Presentation this week were: Sarah McGrath Lisa O'Halloran and Mieke Rice. Back: Saoirse Bartlett Sarah Trant Aoibhe Coffey and Jayden Kelliher.

Jade O’Riordan DalyCharlotte O'Shea Caelyn O'Grady graduated from St Brigid's Presentation this week.

First cousins Jessica Heffernan Ava Doyle and Chloe Jones graduated from St Brigid's Presentation this week.

Three generations of Pres Girls Ellen Farndon with her aunt Cliona Hallissy who also teaches in the school and Cliona’s mother/Ellen’s grandmother Mary Hallissy.

SPORTS AWARDS: Students from St Brigid’s received their school awards on Wednesday afternoon. Abbie Finan was awarded Soccer: Player of the Year Chloe Hue Senior Football: Player of the Year Emily Buckley 1st Year Football: Player of the Year Abbey Cronin 2nd Year Football: Player of the Year and Andrea Murphy Junior Football; Player of the Year. Photo: Michelle Crean

MUSIC AWARD: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark presented Saoirse O’Sullivan with the Outstanding Achievements in Music. Photo: Michelle Crean

LCA AWARD: Kara Huggard earned herself the LCA Student of the Year which was announced at the St Brigid’s School awards on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Michelle Crean

MOST VALUED PLAYERS: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark (second left) presented the Senior Basketball: Most Valued Player to Tara Donnellan the Minor Basketball: Most Valued Player to Ciara O’Sullivan and the Cadette Basketball: Most Valued Player to Leah McMahon. Photo: Michelle Crean

SCIENCE: Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark (second left) presented the Excellence in Science award to Emma Myers and Jennie O’Mahony while Rita Akhter received the Overall Contribution to STEM. Photo: Michelle Crean

CEIST AWARD: Student Sarah McGrath is pictured with James and Margaret McGrath and Sixth Year Year Head and Acting Deputy Principal Maria Neary after receiving the CEIST Award at the awards ceremony in St Brigid’s on Wednesday afternoon. Photo: Michelle Crean
Held in the school gym on Wednesday afternoon, the students from St Brigid's Presentation were presented with a variety of awards from sport to science, music and visual art while Sixth Year student Saoirse Coffey received the Orla Benson Award.
“During this school year, our students have showcased their brilliance and extensive talents,” teacher Adrienne Brosnan, said.
“We are all so proud of these outstanding achievements across all aspects of school life. Awards day is a truly special occasion for all members of the St Brigid’s community and one which we relish the opportunity to celebrate. It is a time of anticipation, a time of excitement and a time of great joy. The awards that are presented are a testament to that dedication and we also acknowledge all the great work that is done by the teachers here in St Brigid’s.”
Sixth Year students also said their final goodbyes ahead of their State exams next month.
“We wish them the best of luck as they spread their wings and leave the shelter of St Brigid’s for the beginning of a new adventure.”
AWARD WINNERS
Other awards winners were:
Anna Dunlea received the Contribution to Graphics award while Leah Vinluan got the Design and Communication Graphics award.
Clodagh O’Connor and Sarah O’Sullivan both received the Contribution to Visual Art award.
Abbie Finan was awarded Soccer: Player of the Year, Chloe Hue Senior Football: Player of the Year, Emily Buckley 1st Year Football: Player of the Year, Abbey Cronin 2nd Year Football: Player of the Year, and Andrea Murphy Junior Football; Player of the Year, Senior Basketball: Most Valued Player went to Tara Donnellan, the Minor Basketball: Most Valued Player was given to Ciara O’Sullivan and the Cadette Basketball: Most Valued Player went to Leah McMahon.
Kara Huggard earned herself the LCA Student of the Year, Sarah McGrath received the CEIST Award, Excellence in Science was awarded to Emma Myers and Jennie O’Mahony, while Rita Akhter received the Overall Contribution to STEM.
Bríd O’Connor who wrote the book Spark presented Saoirse O’Sullivan with the Outstanding Achievements in Music award.
News
Fossa School says ‘bonjour’ to French classes

Fossa National School is giving its pupils a headstart in learning a new language.
The school signed up to Language Sampler scheme as part of the ‘Say Yes to Languages’ initiative in primary schools organised by Post Primary languages Ireland in 2021. This is the school’s third year running the module.
Hélène Olivier-Courtney, the school’s French teacher and director of French For All Killarney School of French, covers ten schools in Kerry over the three terms.
The success of the initiative relies on an all-school approach and the active involvement of class teachers and management.
“The whole staff in Fossa certainly helped make this new journey a special and enjoyable experience for the children as we learnt French through art, songs, games and food tasting! This year, we also organised a catwalk on our last day. Our sixth-class students will have such a head start before secondary school and most importantly will have develop curiosity interest and love for the language,” said Hélène.
News
Opinion: Silent majority needs to stand up and call out far-right hate

By Chris Davies
Last Friday’s Dublin Riots should not have come as a surprise to anyone. It has been bubbling under the surface of Irish society for a good number of years now. The actions of a small minority last week was a culmination of years of racism, hatred and misinformation shared online by far-right groups.
Late on Friday night a disturbing WhatsApp voice note was doing the rounds on social media where a far-right actor could clearly be heard encouraging violence on the streets of Dublin.
“’Seven o’clock, be in town. Everyone bally up, tool up…Any foreigner, just kill them”
Watching the Riots unfold on social media brought me back to when I was working in Dublin a number of years back. My morning commute from Skerries to the city centre involved a dart to Connolly Station followed by a short trip on the Luas to the Jervis. Every week, without fail, I would witness at least one racial slur or attack on someone who didn’t fit the narrow minded view of what an Irish person should look, dress or talk like. I don’t know if it is the eerie silence of public transport that seems to amplify the situation, but that’s where I found it to be most common. The abuse was usually perpetrated by a group of youths or someone who was clearly under the influence of drink or drugs. The victims were always of colour, often dressed smartly enough to presume they were on their way, or coming from work. A far cry from the perpetrators who you could tell were roaming aimlessly around the city looking for trouble.
While shameful to admit, I would often look on and watch the abuse unfold, only to spend the rest of my work day thinking about the poor person who was told to “F*&K off back to your own country”. I would sit at my desk questioning why I didn’t step in and say something. There were one or two occasions where I did step in and call it out, but not nearly often enough.
This disgusting behaviour is much more visible in our cities. Since moving back to Killarney I wouldn’t witness as much direct abuse on the streets but working with the Killarney Advertiser I would be tuned in to local news and some of the comments I read on our social platforms are far worse than anything I witnessed during my time in Dublin.
There is a significant group of people in Ireland that I would call the ‘silent majority’. We are not as outspoken on issues we care about. We tend to observe and consume the news quietly, and only speak of our support or disgust on certain issues in close circles, too afraid we might offend someone. The problem with this is that we are leaving these far-right groups unchallenged, to become louder, more aggressive and more hostile as seen last week.
The past week Sinn Fein and the Social Democrats have been busy in the media expressing no confidence in Justice Minister Helen McEntee and Garda Commissioner Drew Harris but I would suggest that there is a large percentage of the Irish population that bears some of the responsibility. We witness racism in our communities and online every day and we need to start speaking up and calling it out.
On the issue of immigration in Killarney, there is no doubt resources are being stretched and our tourism industry is suffering as a result of an influx of immigration. Locals have also raised concerns in relation to the placement of so many male international protection applicants in one setting and we only have to look back on the incident in Hotel Killarney last year where a number of men were involved in a harrowing stabbing incident to see how that played out.
However, being concerned around immigration is not the same as anti-immigration. It is important to raise these issues with local representatives and Kerry TD’s but also to separate ourselves from far-right groups who are only interested in encouraging violence.
The anarchy we witnessed last week should never be the answer and research shows it is completely unnecessary. Harvard University have looked at hundreds of protests over the last century, and found that non-violent campaigns are twice as likely to achieve their goals as violent campaigns and that it only takes around 3.5% of the population actively participating in the protests to ensure serious political change.
Let’s continue to protest peacefully for issues we believe in, but stand up and speak out against people and movements in our community that incite hate and violence.