Ballymun was absolutely buzzing on the 15th of September as 4 bus loads of students from all over Ireland descended upon the Axis Theatre, where the first ever National Water Explorer Awards took place in a ‘Dragon’s Den style’ setting. Local school Glasnevin Educate Together NS were first to arrive and featured on RTÉ news2day (watch the recording here www.globalactionplan.ie/programmes/rtes-new2day/)! Then came Blakestown Community School and Firhouse Community College. Last to arrive was Scoil Bhríde all the way from Rathcormac in County Cork! A wonderful day was had by all, with fun activities, and of course, the moment we had all been waiting on – the Water Explorer presentations!
Each team had 10 minutes to present their Water Explorer Festival to a panel of 3 judges: HSBC CEO – Alan Duffy, Dublin City Council’s Water Conservation Officer – Sinead Hourihane, and Ian Carey – Communications & Development officer with the Irish Environmental Network. The Dragons then had an opportunity to ask students about their presentation and water conservation message before scoring the Water Explorers. All four presentations were fantastic but two really stood out: The “Wonderful Water Explorers” from Scoil Bhríde and the “Aqua Dudes” from Blakestown Community School.
After some deliberation, it was decided to crown Blakestown Community School as Ireland’s first National Water Explorer School of the Year! The “Aqua Dudes” won a full year subscription to the Irish Wildlife Trust (IWT) Badger Schools Program, which includes a talk for the whole school, workshops for up to 3 classes as well as the quarterly magazine. Congratulations to all our Water Explorer schools who took part over the last year.
Check out video below from the days event!