Steve Wall Promotes CBS Ennistymon Open Night

WELL known Ennistymon musician and actor, Steve Wall shared his personal experience of attending CBS Ennistymon in a school video to promote their open evening, which will be held next Tuesday night at 7pm.

Last year, Steve was involved in a Creative Engagement Project with Transition Year students where he helped them to write lyrics for different music genres with a view to producing a song.

Steve was following in the footsteps of well known entertainer Luka Bloom who has also worked with students in the school while local musician Jon O’Connell is overseeing this project this year.

In fact, the collaboration between Luka and students resulted in the production of a compact disc.

While CBS Ennistymon has a strong sporting tradition, principal, Mary Lyons stressed they also nurtured creativity of students who may not be interested in sport.

As a former past pupil, Steve is no stranger to the school and he was delighted to contribute to the video by providing a personal clip.

As a founding member of two successful bands – The Stunning and The Walls – along with his bother Joe, Steve has played in front of live crowds in Ireland, the UK, Australia and the US, supporting artists like U2, Bob Dylan and the Red Hot Chili Peppers along the way.

Born in Dublin, at age 13 Steve and his family moved to his father’s home town of Ennistymon. Having first dabbled in acting in the 1980s, in recent years Steve has landed roles in hit television shows such as Vikings and Moone Boy.

The musician-turned-actor has starred in RTÉ 1916 drama, Rebellion.

Principal, Mary Lyons explained the school always hosted an open evening attended by both students and teachers who showcased what practical subjects and extra curricular activities are on offer in the North Clare educational facility.

However, like all schools they were unable to hold their usual school opening evening due to Covid-19 restrictions and created their first in-house video instead.

“We are trying to demonstrate the warm and friendly atmosphere in the school as well as providing viewers with the nuts and bolts.

“It was very much a school team effort involving the staff, parents and students. I was very proud of that. All the music, video and mixing was completed in the school recording studio. It was lovely we could do it ourselves. We have a lot of talent in-house, which we were happy to use.

“We are trying to demonstrate we are a friendly, caring school. While academic subjects are important, we also wanted to showcase extra curricular activities.

Ms Lyons also participated in Zoom meetings with Sixth Class students in the local primary schools to showcase what CBS Ennistymon has to offer. She was joined by some former past pupils of national schools who shared information about their time in CBS Ennistymon.

The soundtrack for the video was recorded in the school recording studio with local musician Jon O’ Connell, who teaches music after school, with the help of Leaving Cert student, Tommy Nunan, on violin and Transition Year student, Sam Toft, on guitar.

They produced an interesting mix of classical and rock music.

Special needs assistant, Neville Fitzpatrick did most of the video recording and video editing on an apple computer while some participants also did the videoing themselves.

Another past pupil, Mathew Kelly supplied aerial drone shots for the video.

The video was co-ordinated by the Creative Arts team of CBS Ennistymon teachers Eimear Griffey, Emma-Jane Brown and Neville Fitzpatrick.

Parents also contributed clips outlining their experiences of the school.

CBS Ennistymon has 20 teachers and four special needs assistants for 230 pupils.

It offers modern teaching with a varied range of subjects including woodwork technology, construction studies, agricultural science, religion, history, biology and physics alongside all core subjects. Life Skills class is an integral element to providing the boys with a fully rounded education.

Anyone interested in attending the Zoom meeting on Tuesday night should log on to the school website cbsennistymon and email principal, Mary Lyons for a registration invitation link.

The video is available to view on the school website or on all school social media.

Dan  Danaher