Shamrock Rovers star defender Lee Grace was guest speaker and awards presenter at the Edmund Rice Secondary School's annual student awards night on May 13.
Shamrock Rovers star defender and Carrick-on-Suir native Lee Grace was the special guest at Edmund Rice Secondary School's annual student awards night celebrating the achievements, dedication, leadership, academic excellence, sporting and musical ability of the school's students.
Lee, who formerly played with Carrick United FC, presented the awards to students at the ceremony on May 13 and spoke of how 16 years ago he was exactly like the students of ERSS facing school exams. He advised students to put their heads down and work very hard as it is not talent alone that brings success.
He congratulated the students on their awards and their hard work to earn them.
In her speech, Deputy Principal Linda Barry praised the hard work of students and how they proudly advocated for the school and its core values. The diversity of talent in academic achievements, extra-curricular and sporting was exceptional.
She thanked the AIB in Carrick-on-Suir for co-sponsoring the Senior Student of the Year Award and spoke of the great pride the students bring to the school.
Ms Barry also thanked Lee Grace whose formidable career has been an inspiration for many young soccer players in Carrick-on-Suir and beyond.
Apart from awards for academic achievement, students were honoured for their participation in Model UN and EU Ambassador programmes.
Junior and Senior Enterprise Students of the Year awards were also presented along with awards for Junior and Senior Music Students of the Year.
A wide range of sports awards honoured students who excelled in soccer, hurling, football and basketball.
The school's soccer teams enjoyed a fantastic season and medals were presented at a separate ceremony in the school to the Under 14 Collins Cup winners, Under 15 Munster Minor Trophy final runners-up and Under 17 Munster Junior Trophy winners.
And at a separate ceremony for GAA teams, medals were presented to the First Year and Under 15 teams that won county championships and Under 15 Gaelic football team that won a county championship.
Meanwhile, ERSS once again achieved European Parliament Ambassador status for the 2025/206 academic year.
The school said this reflected the “incredible dedication and enthusiasm of its Junior EU Ambassadors whose hard work brought the EU to life throughout the school over the year from
“From engaging visits and discussions with MEPs, to participating in cross-border events and collaborations, our students embraced every opportunity to learn more about the European Union and democracy in action."
The school also won the GLOBE Ireland Outstanding Citizen Science Contribution award on May 5.
Students won the award for the school by collecting data on air pollution, water quality and biodiversity of the River Lingaun as well as rainfall, temperature and carbon capture by trees. The data collected is used by agencies such as NASA, EPA and UCC.
Check out more photos from the ERSS student awards in this week’s edition of The Nationalist now on sale in local shops.
1. Edmund Rice Secondary School student awards
Senior Sportsperson of the Year Conor Norris (centre) pictured with special guest Lee Grace (left) and teacher PJ Fahey (right) | Anne Marie Magorrian
2. Edmund Rice Secondary School awards
Senior Student of the Year Paul Keane (second from left) with AIB Carrick-on-Suir representative, special guest Lee Grace and Sixt Year head teacher Rachel Moriarty | Anne Marie Magorrian
3. Edmund Rice Secondary School awards
Junior Student of the Year Aaron Brennan with teacher Shane McCormack and Shamrock Rovers star Lee Grace | Anne Marie Magorrian
4. Edmund Rice Secondary School awards
Junior Sportsperson of the Year Oran Norris (centre) with teacher Shane McCormack and special guest Shamrock Rovers player Lee Grace | Anne Marie Magorrian