A Poem for Ireland Poetry Competition – Schools and Libraries commemorate 1916

The Department of Education and Skills, the public library service and Libraries Development, Local Government Management Agency are holding the A Poem for Ireland Poetry Competition for post-primary schools, as part of the commemoration events for Ireland 2016.

A Poem for Ireland Competition Format

Round One: School Competition, 6th January 2016 – 29th February 2016
Students in each post-primary school year are invited to submit a poem on Ireland past and / or present for the competition to the Year Head before the 29th of February 2016. Poems may be submitted in English or Irish and must be original works.

29th February - 4th March 2016: The winning entry for each year should be submitted to each local library branch (see http://www.librariesireland.ie/services-to-schools/post-primary-schools/ for branch details) by the 4th of March 2016.

Round Two: County Competition, March 2016
A judging panel set up by the local library service will adjudicate on all schools’ winning entries. A county winner will be selected and announced at an awards event hosted by the public library service.

Round Three: National Final, April 2016
County winners will be reviewed by a national panel of judges set up by Libraries Development, LGMA and shortlisted to eight national finalists. A national final will take place in April 2016. The national panel of judges will assess each of the eight entries on the day and will award a national winner. A national dignitary will attend and present the prize to the overall winner.

Prizes
All prizes at local level will be determined by each local authority individually.

National Winner: €1,000
National Runner Up: €500
National 3rd prize: €250
National Finalists: €50 vouchers

All finalist entries will be uploaded to www.libariesireland.ie, www.askaboutireland.ie and www.scoilnet.ie. For competition posters, further information, terms and conditions, see www.librariesireland.ie/services-to-schools.