Major Triumph in All Ireland school sevens rugby

All-Ireland 7’s Cup Champions

Last Thursday saw girls from TY and 5^th year in Colaiste Ide agus Iosef, Abbeyfeale travel to Terenure College, Dublin and defeat teams from all over Ireland to capture the All Ireland IRFU School Sevens cup in Women’s rugby. On the day there were over 20 teams from across Ireland competing in boys and girls section. The girls section had previous winners like Tullamore and Gorey in the same group as Abbeyfeale making the standard very high.

The Abbeyfeale girls had to play 3 rounds and come out on top with points to proceed to Final of the Cup. The CII girls were up against last year’s winners Gorey first where Eilish Cotter got them off to a good start by scoring on the left side but Gorey soon hit back with a try of their own and converted. CII’s Sinead Leahy took a pass from her teammate Diane O’Connor for her try to put them ahead at half time. The second half would have to be more tactical to gain the points so the CII girls made the passes left and right till eventually Sadhbh O’Connor made the break for the line to get the 3^rd try of the game. The fight was on as the CII didn’t convert any meaning they needed to keep Gorey out till the final whistle which they did giving them the win with a score of 15 – 7.  With the points on the board, the next few games would be tough as they needed to continue to add the points up.

Eventually the final game would see them up against Kilkenny where they would get the 1^st try but the CII girls would come back with tries from Eilish Cotter, Shauna O’Shea under the post and another where Shona Hickey popped over the line. The last try in the first half came from CII Eilish Cotter pass to Diane O’Connor. Kilkenny had only 1 try in the first half and would come back with a bang with 2 fast tries but then CII would denied them another by holding it up and securing themselves the win of 22 – 15. It looked good for the CII girls but had to wait for the final scores from other games to come in to see where they positioned on the table and as Orla Fullam-Smith from IRFU called out the points, the cheers went up from the CII team realising they were only 1 point behind the leaders Tullamore and in the Cup Final.

The sun continued to shine down as the Cup Final began and with pure determination the CII girls would lead the way as they blocked Tullamore at every chance, stole the ball in the lineouts there was no stopping them. In the first half the tries came from Diane O’Connor run, short by a couple of feet though so her teammate Eilish O’Connor finished it off, quickly followed by another try from Sinead Leahy.  With only 2 tries in the first half, the CII girls needed to keep their composure as Tullamore could easily come back very quickly. In the second half the CII girls kept the pressure on as it was again Eilish O’Connor who went in for her 2^nd try. Tullamore were fighting hard and ended up giving away a penalty where CII’s Diane O’Connor took full advantage as she kicked it over their heads and ran like the wind to place it down. Tullamore were struggling to hold onto the ball as the CII girls would put in tough tackles and it would be Larissa McCarthy and Diane O’Connor passing skills to score the last try to make sure Tullamore didn’t have a chance to come back. As the final whistle blew, Colaiste Ide agus Iosef were the IRFU School Sevens Cup Champions 2018. IRFU Justin Deegan made the presentation to the captain Diane O’Connor of Colaiste Ide agus Iosef.

Well done to the Colaiste Ide agus Iosef girls on a spectacular performance of rugby with some remarkable leadership and teamwork, it shows anything is possible. Thanks to their coach John Moloney and also to the continued support of their principal Liam Murphy and Vice-principal Joan Collins. A massive thank you to the IRFU on organising the day, referees and Terenure College for hosting the event and providing the lunch.

The Abbeyfeale team that won the All Ireland School Sevens competition

Back (LtoR): John Moloney (Coach), Chloe Smith, Aoife Ryan, Sinead Leahy, Eilish Cotter (Vice-Captain), Aine Poff, Sadhbh O’Connor, Lenora Kelly

Front (LtoR): Larissa McCarthy, Jackie Murphy, Ava Roche, Diane O’Connor (Capt), Shona Hickey, Shauna O’Shea

German wins

Members of the German Debating Team with their certificates from the GDI German Debating Competition. Missing from photo is Ciara Hunt. 

Trip to the Dail

Colaiste Ide agus Iosef 3^rd Year CSPE Trip to Leinster House

On Tuesday April 17^th, Class Brid 3 from Colaiste Ide agus Iosef (Abbeyfeale) made a trip to Dáil Éireann as part of their CSPE Action Project which will contribute towards their Junior Cert grade. Beforehand, the class had organised themselves into five groups, each taking responsibility for a different aspect of their project.

When they arrived at the Dáil they had to go through security. They had to put their jackets and bags through a scanner.  On arrival, they met with Sinn Fein TD’s Martin Ferris and Maurice Quinlivan. Following photos, they had a surprise visit by Gerry Adams, Sinn Fein Party Leader.  He spoke to them about his role as a TD and they enjoyed talking many photos with him.  Next, they made their way to the Dáil chamber for Leaders questions.  They heard TD’s such as Michael Martin, Mary Lou McDonald, and Michael Lowery question An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. Some of their questions included the issues surrounding the data breach at the INM and local Country Council spending in relation to the upkeep of secondary roads.

Next they went to the Seanad. There they saw Senator David Norris speak. He spoke about concerns in relation to the loss of medical cards for those deemed to be financially over the minimum threshold. His speech was similar to the debates in the main chamber but this time he didn’t have a time limit.

After the debate, the tour guide brought them to the gallery. The gallery had portraits of all the past Taoisigh. The tour guide told them about the history of the Dáil and also the Taoisigh. During the tour they also met with Simon Harris, Minister for Health and Eoghan Murphy, Minister for Housing.

On completion of their guided tour, they met Patrick O’ Donovan , Minister of State for Public Procurement, Open Government and eGovernment .   He spoke with them about his visit to their school on December 18^th last and gave them a brief history on Leinster House.  They took a group photo with him before departing.

They had an extremely enjoyable visit, once which will remain etched in their memory for many years to come. They would like to thank Minister of State Patrick O’ Donovan for his kind invitation and also to his Administrative Assistant Jeremiah Roche for meeting with them and accompanying them on the tour.

Finally, their sincere thanks go to their teacher Ms Kelly and to Nora, SNA, for travelling to Dublin with us.  They look forward to returning to Dail Eireann,  perhaps as future leaders of their country. The sky is the limit!

Debate Action Aid

Larissa McCarthy, qualified for the National Action Aid debating final in Dublin, with her speech on gender inequality standing out from the over 130 entries. On the day she competed against 8 other students for a trip to Brussels. While not victorious, Larissa spoke very well and in the days preceading her appearance in the Royal Irish Academy, thanks to help from her teacher Niall Twomey, she had delivered the speech to most of our own school community. 

 Link to tweet here