Artistic touch for St Patrick’s Day parade

THE children of Ennis Educate Together school are in the frame to be picture perfect for this year’s St Patrick’s Day parade in the county capital.
The 45 pupils of fourth and fifth classes have been busily working on their entry for the parade for the past month with artist David O’Rourke. And they are now looking forward to showcasing their works of art to the many people who will throng the streets of Ennis for the parade on Saturday.
Their entry for the parade, which was themed ‘Ennis – A town of many cultures’ features framed portraits of different well known characters, with the children themselves becoming part of the art.
Principal Seán Ó Confhaola explained, “The children created individual frames and chose characters to go in the frames. Then they cut out holes so their faces could go into the art. They will literally be walking portraits in the parade.”
This is the first year that Ennis Educate Together has taken part in the St Patrick’s Day parade. Mr Ó Confhaola said, “The multi-cultural theme of the parade intrigued us, as we are a school of many cultures with English being a second language to many of our students. In fact, many of our students did really well in Féile na hInse. The children are all very proud to be taking part in the parade this year and to celebrate our national saint.
“We received support from Clare County Council as part of the Artist in the Community Scheme which allowed David to come in and work with the children. He came up with the initial idea, but the kids have been doing the work and they’ve all been really enjoying it. There is a great buzz around the school and I’m sure the whole school community will come out and support the kids on the day. I just hope the weather is ok.”
Artist David O’Rourke revealed that he has been enjoying his time with the youngsters at the school. “The initial idea came from me, but it was down to the kids what characters and concepts we would have. There is a lot of talent there. They decorated the frames and put images in, and they could pick anything. There are some of the obvious things like the Mona Lisa or other famous works of art, but then there was a Slovakian student who picked a well known Slovakian coach. I suppose the fact that Educate Together is such a multicultural school the art works really reflected that.”