Bantry students reach final of Irish Angus Beef competition

Two students at Colaiste Pobail Bheanntrai have reached the final in the All-Ireland Certified Irish Angus Beef competition.

Clare Barry and Rebecca Harrington from Bantry are travelling to Croke Park this Thursday, March 14th, for the final.As part of their agricultural science class in transition year, Clare and Rebecca produced a three-minute video about the beef industry.  

The high standard of the video brought them to the regional final of the competition, which is designed to promote the Angus brand in Ireland.Their excellent interview by a panel of experts in Limerick saw Clare and Rebecca go through to the final stage of the competition.

Sustainability in beef industry was a central theme of the project and, as part of their research, they visited many industries in the area.

The students have also written a children’s book called ‘The Adventures of Ali Angus,’ which they have had the pleasure of reading to primary school students at Dromore and Coomhola. 

On Tuesday last, the book was officially launched. They even penned some catchy songs that they’ve posted on Instagram and YouTube to promote the Certified Irish Angus beef brand.   

The girls – along with the life-size mascot from their book – also be participated in the annual Arc House walk, organised by Bantry Macra na Feirme.  

Their mentor teacher, Ms Cornelia Hourihan, said the students thoroughly enjoyed doing the agricultural-science project. She said: ‘It gave them an insight into farming in their area and they also learned new skills in terms of the use of social media and marketing.’

Ms Hourihan said: ‘We are all hoping that the prize of five Angus calves will be coming back to the green fields of Bantry, especially as Clare and Rebecca are interested in raising the calves themselves.’