All Ireland victory for Athlone students in public speaking contest

A team from Our Lady's Bower in Athlone recently became All Ireland champions at the final of the national public speaking competition organised and presented by the Order of the Knights of St Columbanus.

This competition is now in its twelfth year and enjoys considerable support from second level places of education throughout Ireland. Prior to the Bower's success, schools from all provinces except Leinster were crowned All Ireland Champions.

The students from Our Lady's Bower, in their first time of participating in the competition successfully negotiated all of the preliminary and provincial final rounds of the competition to achieve the ultimate accolade of All Ireland champions on Friday, March 27.

The students from the Bower addressed the quotation from Laudato Si: "Human Beings, while capable of the worst, are also capable of rising above themselves, choosing again what is good, and making a new start".

Congratulations to Our Lady’s Bower on this significant achievement, and likewise to the team members, teachers, parents and fellow pupils who made this success possible.

The runners-up in the All Ireland final were also from the Midlands: Killina Presentation Secondary School from Rahan in Offaly.

Success in this competition is not new to Presentation Killina whose 2025 team were crowned Leinster champions in last year’s competition.