There were plenty of smiles in the glorious sunshine as Gaelscoil Phortlaoise came together to raise their ninth Green Flag yesterday morning.
This Green Flag is for Global Citizenship in the area of the marine environment.
Gaelscoil Phortlaoise is located at Summerhill and contains 390 pupils with two of every class.
The school has doubled in size in recent years and contains pupils from Portlaoise as well as many areas like Ballyroan and Portarlington,
Rita Ní Aoláin, who teaches junior infants and is the Green School’s Coordinator, was the driving force behind this project and she explained how it all got started.
She said: “We started this process two years ago and formed our Coiste Glas Le Chéile (Green Committee).
“We have been working since then and taking part in different workshops also.
“We had people come down to visit us from Galway Aquarium and they spoke to the children about the different impacts that we can have on the marine environment despite being in the midlands.
“At the start we were all wondering what we actually can do to help the marine environment and there can be a misconception that just because we are in the midlands, what we do have no impact.
“But what the children learned over the two years proved otherwise. If rubbish from here end up in the river, that rubbish can flow down and end up in the sea.
“So whatever we do here or in any part of Ireland, can seriously impact the marine environment. And the children here were really concerned about the fish.
“A lot of fish can die from plastic going down the river and into the sea and also from oil spills.”
The children also learned about the different types of fish and even the tiny ones that exist in rock pools as well as rivers.
Rita says that the children were vert engaged in the topic right from the start.
She said: “At the start, I put out a call from whoever would want to get involved to write an essay explaining why and what they would like to do.
“I got a massive response. Normally you might get seven or eight but we have 30 on our Coiste Glas and they come from a range of different classes.
“They are really engaged and really interested. We met every two to three weeks and they loved doing it.”
Gaelscoil Phortlaoise were presented with their latest Green Flag and cert in Athlone recently.
On Wednesday, the children were joined by the entire school community and two special guests – Eimear Barry and Clodagh Dunne.
The All-Ireland winning Ladies footballers were brilliant with their time – signing copious amounts of autographs and posing for many pictures.
They then joined Rita to hoist the Green Flag to the cheers of everyone gathered in attendance.
Rita said: “I’d like to thank Clodagh and Eimear for coming into us. They were brilliant and the children loved getting the opportunity to meet two excellent role models.
“I’d also like to thank principal Dominic Ó Braonáin who is a brilliant support and help to us. And also everyone who assisted in every single way to make the day such a success.”
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