Students from Shannon Estuary counties have raised their voices for having the estuary realised as a key global renewable energy and logistics hub at a Shannon Foynes Port Company schools’ competition final.
The weekend gala final of the fifth biannual Shannon Foynes Port Company ‘COMPASS’ competition for Transition Year students from Shannon Estuary catchment counties was a clarion call through brilliantly produced short films and presentations around the imperative for transforming the estuary into a global renewable energy and logistics hub.
Held at the Flying Boat and Maritime Museum in Foynes, the outright winner of the competition was Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom, with their presentation ‘Sorry to Interrupt’. Based on the challenges that happen when transport and energy are interrupted, their video and presentation focused on how realising the Shannon Estuary opportunity can secure both and transform the region into a global renewable energy and logistics hub at the same time.
The Co. Limerick team – which walked away with a cheque of €5,000 for the school, iPads for each team members and a Gold Commemorative Medal – was one of five schools which made the final from a shortlist of entries from across counties Clare, Kerry, Limerick and North Tipperary.
Other finalists were St. Joseph’s Secondary School, Spanish Point, Co. Clare; Coláiste Íde agus Iosef, Abbeyfeale; Salesian Secondary College, Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick; and Laurel Hill Secondary School, Limerick.
All entrants developed, over recent months, short films focusing on the estuary’s potential to drive sustainable development through transport, connectivity, and renewable energy.
Commending the students, Minister Norma Foley said, “I think it’s a wonderful competition because it introduces the young people to the power of the Shannon Estuary and the power and the importance of Shannon Foynes Port. The students have an opportunity through this competition to engage in a plan for the future. It’s so important that we harness the potential of the estuary and creating a greater vision for the future. And I have no doubt that some of these students will have a bigger and broader vision than we even have now.”
Winning captain Cormac Clancy said that he and his team had learned so much through the competition about the opportunity from the Estuary. “We now know that it’s one of the largest ports in Ireland already and also what it can do by way of connecting the region and the country through road, rail and sea. But there’s also a huge opportunity coming from offshore wind energy.
“I feel that with the knowledge we now have here regarding the green energy opportunity, as a generation, we can really change and make a big turnaround on our environment. And it also means we can just stay in the region and work in the region and, overall, be more sustainable,” he said.
Coláiste Chiaráin media teacher Patrick O’Keeffe said the students have been rewarded for their effort. “It was a long journey to get here for the students and I’m just immensely proud of everything they’ve achieved. They brought a lot of skills together, with photo-graphers, editors, videographers and public speakers, into their work and I am just really impressed the way they did that. They really put a lot of hard work in.”
Shannon Foynes Port Chief Executive Pat Keating said that the standard of entries highlighted not only the students’ storytelling ability, but also their research into the estuary’s strategic importance.  “We are immensely proud of what COMPASS has become. The students today really showed that they got the message of what the Shannon Estuary can do for Ireland and beyond it. It clearly ties with their own values as young people who want. They want growth and they want sustainability and the Shannon Estuary can do both at international scale.”
Shannon Foynes Port Company Chairman Michael Walsh said that the competition confirmed the Shannon Foynes Port Company strategy sync-hronises with what younger generations want. “This competition shows what the Shannon Estuary can deliver in the future is exactly what the students want. They told us loud and clear also that they want to be part of this change.  It’s very encouraging that our plans here are in lock step with what they want for the future.”
The COMPASS com-petition continues to play a key role in connecting students with the econ-omic, environmental and social potential of the Shannon Estuary, encouraging them to think critically and creatively about the future of their region.
For more information on Shannon Foynes Port Company and the COMPASS TY Schools Competition, visit www.sfpc.ie.