County Waterford’s St. Mary’s Touraneena National School has been crowned ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2024’.
Following its participation in a three-month competition, in which hundreds of schools from all over Ireland, north and south, took part, St. Mary’s Touraneena National School then went on to win the live ‘grand final’ in which the top four schools in this year’s competition featured.
The grand final, which took place in Dublin on Friday, was hosted by three of Ireland’s best-known athletes – World Para Rowing champion, Katie O’Brien and Olympians, sprinters Phil Healy and David Gillick – and saw the four schools contest for a prize package which included €8,000 worth of sports equipment.
Supported by Irish fruit importer Fyffes and tracked online, the purpose of the competition, launched last Autumn and now in its third year, was to promote the importance of exercise, fitness and healthy eating amongst young people. A central feature of the programme was a series of exercise routines which competing schools could adopt as part of their PE curriculum and against which performance could be measured. Previous competition winners were Scoil Na Croise Naofa, Dunfanaghy (2022) and Gilson National School, Oldcastle (2023).
Congratulating the pupils, teachers and staff of all the schools who took part in this year’s competition, Fyffes head of marketing, Emma Hunt-Duffy thanked all involved for their ‘enthusiasm, commitment and support’, adding: “it was really encouraging to see how much fun and enjoyment the young pupils had as they incorporated the exercise routines into their PE classes and undertook each month’s fitness challenge”.
Further details can be viewed online at www.fyffesfitsquad.ie
