Gaelscoil Philib Barún

Saoirse Movie Wins 3 National Drama Awards

On behalf of the entire school community, we want to congratulate the pupils of 6th class and their teacher, Ben, on their triumph at the National School Drama Competition earlier this week. Their short film, Saoirse, which was submitted for consideration to the annual competition and which was formally launched at the school last week, won a total of 3 awards, including:

  1. Best Actor, for Issie O’Sullivan’s portrayal of Saoirse in the movie.
  2. Best New Production.
  3. Best Film of the year, across all of the different competitions!

Gaelscoil Philib Barún has been entering various drama competitions for 30 years and this is the first time they have ever won a national competition. What a wonderful way to end the school year!

A first class production”, is how the judge, Tomás Ó Murchú, described the school’s creation. He also made special mention of the wonderful local scenery captured on film, as well as the musical soundtrack that was created especially for the film by former pupil Kelly Ní Mheirnín, describing the blending of both of these elements as, “a feast for the eyes and ears!”.

The script for the movie was written by teacher, Ben MacCaoilte, and was produced with the active participation of all the pupils, in front and behind the camera. The equipment used to film, edit and produce the movie was also generously sponsored by Red Hat, a multinational software company with a base in Waterford and with a strong community ethos of their own.

We are so incredibly proud of 6th class, who overcame and embraced all of the challenges that Covid restrictions brought to fulfil their true potential and produce their incredible show, which had to go on”, said Daithí de Paor, School Principal.

There is a lesson here for all of us!