Junior public speakers excel at ACC

With topics ranging from "Barack Obama- a new president facing into a brave new world" to "Schooldays -are the best days of your life" the students of Athlone Community College kept the audience enthralled. With 32 competitors representing 12 class groupings this experience instilled confidence in the young and able participants. Some of the more unusual topics included: "I wish I was a penguin" presented by Daniel Cunningham who gave a most humorous account of the advantages of the penguins carefree existence. Pearse Warrilow, who presented his speech without any notes, motivated the audience to action with his speech on the importance of being the change factor in our own communities. However, it was the finalists who really wowed the audience. The finalists including Alexandra Kolcze, Terri O"Sullivan, Suzanne Gillespie, Brendan Gibbons, Pearse Warrilow and Christopher Kenny presented to a packed crowd of both students and teaching staff in the assembly hall on Friday 19th December