Issued May 2003

49TH TEXACO CHILDREN'S ART COMPETITION AWARDS PRESENTED

One hundred and sixty one students - comprising the Overall Winner of the competition plus the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prize winners and twenty special merit award winners in each of seven age categories - today attended a lunch in Dublin's Burlington Hotel where they were presented with their awards in the 49th Texaco Children's Art Competition.

There to welcome them was Pat O'Shaughnessy, Country Chairman, Texaco (Ireland) Limited accompanied by the guest of honour, Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue TD who presented the awards. Also amongst the VIP attendance was the chairman of the judging panel, Declan McGonagle, Director, Dublin City Arts Centre along with preliminary judges Dr. Kay O'Brien and Mr. Eoin Butler (both from St. Patrick's Training College, Dublin), Dr. Denise Ferran and Mr. Alan Bremner, Director of Television at UTV. Today FM broadcaster Ian Dempsey was Master of Ceremonies.

Described by Minister O'Donoghue "as a wonderful celebration of art" and a "platform for creativity for young people", the Texaco Children's Art Competition, now in its 49th year is the longest running event in the history of art sponsoring in Ireland - a fact recognised by the Business2Arts organisation who presented Texaco with their 'Best Continuing Sponsorship of the Arts' award last year.

This year, entries were received from over 2,200 primary and second level schools throughout Ireland - north and south. Twenty-five counties are represented in the overall list of winners. Amongst the first prize winners, Wexford was the single most successful county taking three awards followed by Cork with two and Dublin and Waterford with one each. In overall terms, Dublin was the most successful county with 43 winners followed by Cork (15), Antrim (13), Wexford (11), Mayo and Waterford (5 each).

From Wexford, first prize winners were 15-years old Eoin Kenny from Gorey Community School (Category B), 11-years old John Macken from St. Sennan's NS, Enniscorthy (Category D) and 7-years old Sean Murphy from Caim NS, Enniscorthy (Category E). From Cork, first prize winners were 16-years old Sarah Attridge from Schull Community College (Category A) and 13-years old Valerie Coleman from Cloghroe NS near Blarney (Category C). Other first prizes went to 6-years old Adam Bradley from St. Thomas' NS, Lucan (Category F) and 16-years old Sean Stillwell from St. John's Special School, Dungarvan (Category G).

A special feature of the competition is the UTV/Texaco Young Artist Commission. Under this initiative, a Stg£1,000 commission is awarded annually to the young artist chosen by the Chairman of the judging panel, Declan McGonagle as the overall winner of the competition. This year, the Overall Winner and recipient of the Stg£1,000 UTV/Texaco Young Artist Commission is Gorey Community School student Eoin Kenny, first prize winner in the 14 - 15 age category. In receiving the commission, Eoin follows in the footsteps of the 2002 winner - fellow Gorey Community School student Kevin Roche. When completed, Eoin's work will form part of the UTV Young Artist Collection hanging alongside the original UTV Collection in which works by artists Basil Blackshaw, Gerard Dillon and George Campbell are featured.