Deadline Extended! A Poem for Ireland Competition

Deadline extended from 29th February to 9th March

The closing date for entries to 'A Poem for Ireland' competition has been extended to Wednesday 9th March 2016.

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.

Prizes:

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

A Poem for Ireland Competition Format

Round One: School Competition, 6^th January 2016 – 9^th March 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 9^th of March 2016. Poems may be submitted in English or Irish and must be original works.

9^th – 16^th March 2016: The winning entry for each year should be submitted to your local library branch (download pdf for details: Post-primary schools and partner libraries) by the 16^th of March 2016.

Round Two: County Competition, April 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, May 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 on 6th May 2016 at Dublin Castle. 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 3^rd prize:  €250
National Finalists:  €50 vouchers

All finalist entries will be uploaded to www.libariesireland.ie, www.askaboutireland.ie and www.scoilnet.ie.