Susan is Dublin Bus art winner

A FOURTH class pupil from St Canice’s GNS in Finglas has been named as overall winner of the annual Dublin Bus Children’s Art Competition.

Susan O’Reilly colourfully recreated the popular Dublin Pride Bus in her winning entry to the competition that over 2,000 children from 25 primary schools took part in.

Susan was one of 11 budding artists who got a great surprise when illustrator, author and comedian Aoife Dooley unveiled a bus wrapped in their colourful pictures.

In addition to appearing on the specially decorated Community Spirit Initiative bus, the 11 pictures will feature, alongside 30 others, in the Children’s Art Calendar 2019.

They were also on display at a special exhibition at The Dublin City Gallery The Hugh Lane.

Speaking at the event, Dooley said she’s always believed that it is important to nurture and encourage creative talent in children.

“I feel it makes a big difference not only to their artistic ability, but also for their self-confidence and belief in themselves as they grow up,” she added.

“It’s also fantastic that Dublin Bus is creatively using the Children’s Art Competition to show children that the bus not only helps to bring them to and from school, but also helps the lives of family, friends and neighbours living in their communities.”

Dublin Bus CEO, Ray Coyne, said he was “really impressed” by the creativity and high standard of artwork displayed in the 2019 Children’s Art Calendar.

“The imagination and creativity shown is a credit to the children and all those who support them,” he continued.

“I was also encouraged to see that Susan’s winning picture made reference to values we believe are very important, including pride, fairness, equality and community.

“The calendar shows how young people in Dublin have great respect for Dublin Bus and understand the importance of public transport for their communities."

The Children’s Art Competition is part of the Dublin Bus wider Community Spirit Initiative, which is designed to reflect the company’s commitment to playing an active role in the communities where its services operate.

Last year, as part of its schools education programme, Dublin Bus Schools and Community Co-ordinators made 574 visits to schools to engage with children and young people across the city.

The Community Spirit Initiative buses also made 427 trips, bringing thousands of children on school trips and to and from summer projects.

Dublin Bus has held the annual art competition in primary schools across Dublin since 2002.

The calendar is now being distributed among the participating schools, Dublin Bus employees and is available to the public from the Dublin Bus Head Office at 59 Upper O’Connell Street.