Thirty Athlone students in youth leadership competition

Thirty students from three local secondary schools recently took part in the Rotary Club of Athlone's annual competition aimed at helping young people prepare for their future careers.

Students from Our Lady’s Bower, Athlone Community College and the Marist College took part in the initiative, which is part of Rotary's development programme for young people and places an emphasis on leadership, citizenship and personal growth.

Normally the Athlone winner goes forward to compete at district level for a place on the final group to travel to Strasbourg to attend Euroscola, where they debate a variety of motions in the European Parliament.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it was only possible to run a local competition this year. It is hoped to be able to restart the European trip next year.

Interviews with the students took place by Zoom and were conducted by an interview panel consisting of Ethel Gavin (chair), John Fagan and Peter O'Halloran. The interviews concentrated mainly on personal achievements and organisational and leadership skills.

There was a certificate of participation for each of the thirty students who competed, and the panel was struck by the high standard set by the young people who presented themselves for interview.

After long deliberation, six joint winners were selected, along with one for special merit. They were: Hannah Duffy (Bower), Niamh Jordan (Bower), Rhys Mannion (ACC), Ryan Rafferty (ACC), Edel Reilly (ACC), Ruairi Lyons (ACC) and Justin Lee (Marist - Special Merit).

The Youth Leadership Competition was organised by Ethel Gavin on behalf of the Rotary Club of Athlone. The club wished to thank the interview panel, parents and teachers from the colleges involved for organising the students for the competition.