A YOUNG Southside artist has been recognised as one of the best in Ireland.
Rian Ã? Dhalaigh, from Ballybrack, entered the Sightsavers Junior Painter Awards with his painting entitled
‘I Would Love To See a Two Sided Monster’.
Inspired by this year’s competition theme,
‘I Would Love To See’ it was the eventual winner in the special category.
With thousands of entries from over 200 primary schools nationwide, Rian was one of the 15 finalists that will have their painting displayed at the awards day next month when the overall national winners will be selected.
He will receive a special regional prize in recognition of his amazing achievement.
The Sightsavers Junior Painter Awards are designed to inspire Irish children to express their artistic talent through painting while developing an appreciation of the importance and value of their sight.
The competition, which is open to primary school students of all ages nationwide, has grown over the last five years and last year’s was one of the most popular to date.
Recognising the difficulties schools are finding themselves in due to cut backs, this year cash prizes have been donated for the overall winning students by The Irish Times along with a variety of top art prizes.
Through the competition, children learned about Sightsavers’ important work in preventing avoidable blindness and restoring sight for millions of people in the developing world.
Judge for the competition and founder of Cartoon Saloon, Tomm Moore, said:
“The task of judging this competition was no easy feat.
“The standard of art entered blew me away and the fact that it was the work of primary school students really opened my eyes to the level of talent we have in this country.
“The imagination that was reflected in the entries really inspired me and I hope the winners and every other entrant in the competition are also inspired to continue painting and unleashing their creativity on the world.
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Michael Marren, the CEO of Sightsavers Ireland, added:
“I would like to personally congratulate Rian on becoming a regional winner and securing a place at the Sightsavers Junior Painter Awards final in Dublin next month.
“I was delighted to see that over 200 primary schools throughout the country participated in the competition and helped raise awareness of Sightsavers’ work in the developing world preventing avoidable blindness.