Cork school students speak out for national speech writing competition

Former competition winners include Sooad Saleh, Helen Ryan along with Bandon's Emma Young and Jessica Gill and Lauren Conway too. Picture: Chris Bellew /Fennell Photography.

Secondary school students across Ireland are to compete in a national speech writing competition tackling issues like international development and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on society.

School students from Cork have performed strongly in the past with Bandon’s Emma Young and Jessica Gill among previous winners.

Organised by the ActionAid Ireland charity, the competition is in its seventh year and has now moved entirely online to allow as many students as possible to compete.

Open for entries from today, students aged between 14-17 are invited to submit a 5-minute speech and finalists will present their speeches in February to a panel of judges on Zoom.

The competition’s topics this year focus on Covid-19 and include:

• The coronavirus pandemic is an opportunity to imagine a more equal and sustainable world, but we must act now.
• With a shocking increase in violence against women and girls, the coronavirus pandemic has shown us that the struggle for gender equality is far from over.
• The coronavirus pandemic has reminded us of the importance of global solidarity and international aid.

Speaking about the competition, CEO of ActionAid Ireland, Siobhan McGee said the charity has needed to adapt to new circumstances to launch it’s competition.

“The coronavirus pandemic has effected each and every one of us and we are developing new ways of working across programmes.

“We are delighted to relaunch the ActionTalks competition as a completely digital event and to continue engaging young people in Cork.

“We have also created learning resources to help teachers to get the most out of the competition,” said Ms McGee.

Recent research from Actionaid has highlighted the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on women in communities with the closures of schools.

While students in Ireland were able to return to class after six months, the charity said many students across the world will not be able to return to school.

The charity surveyed 130 teachers across 140 countries and found nearly three in five teachers thought the long-term impact of the pandemic would be felt among poorer children and women.

59% of teachers thought girls would be most affected with a higher drop-out rate from school and 62% thought pooer children would struggle to return to education.

Over a third, 35%, of surveyed teachers are worried about rising hunger as a result of the pandemic and 41% are worried that early pregnancy increases may result from the pandemic. Increases in early marriages are a cause of concern for 45% of teachers.

Surveyed teachers identified the cost of education, 62%, and unpaid care work, 59%, as the main barriers for access to education along with the risk of early marriage, 52%, and child labour costs, 51%.

The charity hopes participating students write creative and well-researched speeches using their own unique perspective from growing up in the coronavirus pandemic.

The winning student and teacher will both receive a €500 One4All voucher. 

ActionAid provides support long term to the most marginalised and vulnerable women and children in developing countries. Its Women’s Rights Programme is funded by Irish Aid from the Department of Foreign Affairs.