Celebrating the budding young authors of Meath

TWO budding young authors from Meath have been crowned winner and runner up of Specsavers Irish Book Awards short story competition.

Amy Beirne (11), from St Peter's National School was announced the national champion of the senior category. Amy entered the competition and triumphed over talented competition to win the title. The prize included a hamper of the shortlisted books featured in the recent Irish Books Awards children's category, and €500 for St Peter's National School library.

The short story competition celebrates Specsavers' sponsorship of the Junior and Senior Irish Children's Book of the Year categories at this year's An Post Irish Book Awards 2023. The short story prompt was ‘I stepped out of the front door clutching my new binoculars. My mum said they were magic but didn't tell me what they could do...’ and Amy's winning story, titled 'A Magical Adventure', impressed the judges, who felt she had a bright future as a budding author.

Amy was thrilled with her win saying: “I really enjoyed writing my story and using my imagination to create such a fun world. I can’t wait to read all my new books and I'm excited to see our school library full of new books.”

Jenny Boyd, Store Manager of Specsavers, Maynooth was delighted to present Amy and her school with their prizes at a recent presentation at St Peter's national school.

Jenny says: “We are delighted to award Amy with her prize, she is such a deserving winner with her very creative story that brought a smile to my face. It’s also our honour to be able to support a local school with a €500 donation for the school library. I am sure the school is as proud of Amy as we are.

“Children have the most creative imaginations and have such a wonderful ability to make us smile and are sure this story will make many people in Meath smile.”

Speaking about Amy’s win, school principal Ms Laura McGovern adds: “We are so proud of Amy, she has always had a great imagination. Reading and writing are such a great creative outlet for children and something we encourage at St Peter’s. We are very thankful to Specsavers for their generous donation to our school library.”

Blaithin Reilly (11), from Trim was announced runner up of the national short story competition.

Blaithin entered the competiton with her enchanting story titled, 'Lost Dog', and received a collection of popular Irish children's books, including Peter Donnelly's ‘The President's Dog’ and Ellen Ryan's ‘Gods Don't Cry’.