Two Murals Bring Pupils Together from Scoil Eanna and Ballybay Central School 

Yesterday, parents, pupils and teachers came together to celebrate the completion of two murals and a peace garden by  children from Scoil Eanna and Central School as part of ‘Together in Creativity’, a project reflecting the natural heritage and historical diversity of Ballybay, Co. Monaghan. The initiative, which is funded by the International Fund for Ireland (IFI), brought pupils from the two schools together for the first time to work on a joint project with the aim of enhancing cross community understanding and reconciliation.

‘Together in Creativity’ commenced at the end of April, when a number of students from both Ballybay Central School and Scoil Eanna visited the Ballybay Wetlands Centre to gather ideas from their local surroundings for the murals. Guided by local artists Catherine McGregor and Donna Bannon, twenty pupils from the two primary-level schools worked together to plan and design the murals which beautifully reflect the area’s shared heritage. All children from both schools contributed to the final artwork right down to leaving their thumb prints as leaves on the trees. Skills learned during the two month project included teambuilding, brainstorming, relationship building and, of course, the basics of art and mixing colours.

The initiative is part of a wider Ballybay Development Association project primarily funded by the IFI under its Community Based Economic and Social Regeneration Programme to deliver cross community training courses and activities to the local Ballybay community. Since the project’s launch last year, a number of successful training courses have been run in the area aimed at introducing various peace and reconciliation topics to participants and promote conversation, discussion and understanding of the ongoing legacy of the conflict.

Commenting at the unveiling, Paul Flynn, Director at the Ballybay Development Association, said: “I’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate the pupils from Scoil Eanna and Central School on their outstanding murals. They are a beautiful and inspiring legacy for our children now and for future generations here in Ballybay. I’d also like to thank local artists Catherine McGregor and Donna Bannon for sharing their expertise and guidance over the last two months and, of course, a big thank you to our funders, the International Fund for Ireland, who made it all possible.”

Congratulating the pupils on their inspiring artworks, Gwen Lanigan of the International Fund for Ireland said: “The International Fund for Ireland is proud to be associated with the ‘Together in Creativity’ initiative. We believe this imaginative project, bringing young children in Ballybay together to celebrate their shared heritage, will have a very positive impact on the local community by encouraging understanding and relationship building. What better way to achieve this than by bringing pupils together in a spirit of collaboration and giving them the opportunity to know each other better and build new friendships!”

Ms Lanigan also expressed a collective thanks to the international donors who have supported the work of the International Fund for Ireland for more than twenty-five years: namely, the United States of America, the European Union, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

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