Vote for local Junk Kouture creations in national finals

A fantastic eleven teams from Athlone and Moate have progressed to the national finals of the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture competition in April.

The unique competition sees second-level students create striking couture designs and impressive works of wearable art from everyday junk that would normally find its way into the bin - promoting the reuse, recycle, refashion motto.

Now members of the public can cast their votes for the local finalists representing Our Lady’s Bower, Athlone Community College and Moate Community School.

As part of the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture judging process, the public can get involved by casting a vote for their favourite design through the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture voting app.

Accessed through the BOIStudents Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BOIstudents) voting is now open until 12 midnight Friday 8th April. Individuals can cast a single vote every 24 hours. Votes account for 10% of the final mark and can make a huge difference in such a heated competition.

Bank of Ireland is encouraging students to think innovatively about how they gather support through the voting app with a special Bank of Ireland Enterprise Award in the mix for the most innovative designer at the Grand Final.

Six of the national finalists have come from Our Lady’s Bower, four are from Moate Community School and one is from Athlone Community College.

The successful contingent from Our Lady’s Bower includes 'Abstracta Stellar’ by Laura Buksic, Julie Ryan, Natasha Jocher; 'Isolate’ created by Ciara MacCarthy and Aoife Healy; 'Jewel of the Nylon’ by Eleanor Dywer, Jennifer Siak and Emma Clarke; 'Tubular Belle’ the creation of Sinead McGetrick, Caoimhe Mannion and Shauna Moylan; 'Going Nuts’ by Rachael Barrington, Kathleen Flynn and Ashley Cuffe and 'Pom Queen’ created by Ally Marren, Julie Healy and Meadbh McCormack.

The Moate winners were 'Aztechnology’ by Fiona Kelly , Aine Healy and Jor-El McLoughlin; 'Stop, Rewind, Play’ created by Lauren Allen, Niamh O’Connor and Aoife King; 'Naturally Untamed’ by Irene Shortall, Ella O’Neill and Clodagh Sheridan; and 'First Edition’ by the team made up of Sorcha Handy, Katie Hough and Annie Boland.

The Athlone Community College entry to progress to the national finals was entitled 'Pine-app-ball’ created by Annie Sheehan and Eadaoin Lennon.