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Young Clare artists seen as the best

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THREE Clare children have been recognised as being among the best young artists in the country at the Sightsavers’ Junior Painter Awards.

 

Dylan Gilmartin (aged nine) and Ava Cullinan (aged 10) who attends St Senan’s National School in Kilrush, as well as Molly Flynn (aged five) who attends Dangan National School, are among the 15 finalists that will have their painting displayed at the awards day next month, where the overall national winners will be selected.

The youngsters’ paintings were inspired by this year’s competition theme, I:dream and there were thousands of entries.

The Clare finalists will receive special regional prizes in recognition of their achievements, while Ava, who was born with cataracts in both of her eyes and now wears specially designed glasses, was particularly commended for her painting, “I dream that everyone stepped back and looked at the world around us”.

The Sightsavers’ Junior Painter Awards were designed to inspire Irish children to express their artistic talents through painting whilst developing an appreciation of the importance and value of their sight.

John Fleming, CEO of Sightsavers’ Ireland Ltd, paid tribute to the Clare finalists. “I would like to personally congratulate Dylan, Ava and Molly on becoming regional winners and securing a place at the Sightsavers’ Junior Painter Awards final in Dublin next month. It is an incredible achievement. I was heartened to see the dreams of our young people being entered for over 170 primary schools throughout the country, many of which took inspiration from Sightsavers’ vital work to prevent avoidable blindness in the developing world.”

Two-time Oscar nominee and founder of Brown Bag Films, Darragh O’Connell, is on the judging panel and he said the standard was very high. “It’s a truly difficult task to judge art and all of the judges were blown away by the standard of the work. Sometimes we couldn’t believe that the paintings were created by children so young. We had to double-check their ages. It was really enjoyable seeing so much imagination expressed through art and we could really feel the fun that the children had creating these masterpieces. I hope the winners are inspired to continue painting and improving on their creations. I would urge those who didn’t win to never give up and keep practising.”

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