THE ABBEYSlí na Mainistreach Volume 18 June 2015

Way

THE ASHBOURNE SHIELDRETURNS TO THE ABBEY

A Review of 2014 - 2015Academic Pastoral Extra-Curricular

Thirty-eight students achieved at leasteight A*/A grades. Top Pupil, Ronan Lavery,achieved an outstanding twelve A* grades. Afurther twelve pupils achieved at leasteleven A*/A grades, including DanielDarragh, Aodhan Donnelly, Conor Fegan,Tirnan Forde, Conor Foster, Jack Hegarty,John Kearney, Niall Lennon (eleven A*grades), Kevin McCumiskey, MatthewO’Donovan (eleven A* grades), Daire Rooneyand Brian Smyth.

Following the top performers above, fivestudents achieved at least ten A*/A grades,including Colum Donnelly, Conor Keenan,Conor McCusker, Jonathan Reynolds andKevin Waterman.

Eight students achieved an outstanding 9or more A*/A grades, including Ben Crozier,Andrew Gibson, Se Irwin, Caoilte Jackson,Mark Keenan, Declan Murdock, Callum O’Neilland Ronan Reel.

The following students achieved eight ormore A*/A grades: Anthony Crilly, MichaelJordan, Rossa Maccarrain, Paul Markey,

Odhran McCaffery, Myles McGeeney, JoshMcKee, Matthew McKevitt, Conor Nugent,Joseph Poucher and Nathan Wray.

Pupils in Year Eleven have also performed

very well after completing numerous GCSEexaminations following their first year ofstudy and can look forward to matching thisyear’s GCSE results next year.

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August OUTSTANDING GCSE RESULTS IN ABBEY GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Just when we thought our GCSEpercentages had peaked, the Classof 2014, raised the bar further, interms of GCSE success.

pMr Dermot McGovern, Headmaster Abbey Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Newry congratulates‘Top of the Class’ Ronan Lavery who achieved an outstanding 12 A* grades in his GCSE examinations.Also included are Mr Paul O’Shea and Mr Ronan Ruddy, Vice Principals.

tThirty seven students from the AbbeyChristian Brothers’ Grammar Schoolachieved at least 8 or more A*/A grades in their GCSE examinations. Included areRonan Lavery, Daniel Darragh, AodhanDonnelly, Conor Fegan, Tirnan Forde, ConorFoster, Jack Hegarty, John Kearney, NiallLennon, Kevin McCumiskey, MatthewO’Donovan, Daire Rooney, Brian Smyth,Colum Donnelly, Conor Keenan, ConorMcCusker, Jonathan Reynolds, KevinWaterman, Ben Crozier, Andrew Gibson, Se Irwin, Caoilte Jackson, Mark Keenan,Declan Murdock, Callum O’Neill, Ronan Reel,Anthony Crilly, Michael Jordan, RossaMaccarrain, Paul Markey, Odhran McCaffery,Myles McGeeney, Josh McKee, MatthewMcKevitt, Conor Nugent, Joseph Poucherand Nathan Wray.

Mr Dermot McGovern, Headmaster,congratulates the group.

Also pictured is Mr Mark Rodgers, Year 12Head of Year, Mr Paul O’Shea and Mr RonanRuddy, Vice Principals.

Staff and pupils at Abbey ChristianBrothers’ Grammar School were officiallypresented with the prestigious Sciath MhicGiolla Bhríde / Ashbourne Shield at a specialceremony held on Friday 18th September inthe school library. For the past 78 years,TheAshbourne Shield has been a much covetedaward presented to the best boys’ and bestgirls’ school in Northern Ireland for spokenIrish. First presented in 1936, the Abbey hasto date, received this award six times in1941, 1942 1992, 2001, 2004 and now in2014.

Adjudicators from Comhaltas Uladh werevery impressed by the high standard of allparticipating pupils in April. A number of ALevel and GCSE students, as well as a numberof students who have come through the Irishmedium Primary sector, were assessed inApril this year.

Neil Comer, President of ComhaltasUladh, and past pupil of the Abbey himself,presented the Ashbourne Shield to Eoin Carr(Year 10 pupil) and congratulated the IrishDepartment on achieving such a highstandard of spoken Irish.

In his opening address, Mr Mc Govern,Principal of the Abbey, referred to the lateCardinal Tomás O’Fiaich’s assertion thatwinning the Ashbourne Shield and/or theMacRory Cup were two signs of a greatschool. He thanked the invited guests andcongratulated the Irish Department and allthe pupils once again for allowing the schoolthe opportunity to celebrate winning thisfantastic award.

Accepting the award on behalf of theAbbey, Mr Dessie Tennyson, Head of Irish,said, “We are delighted to have been awardedsuch a prestigious accolade and it is a tributeto the hard work of both pupils and teacherswithin the department. We are delighted thatso many of our invited guests were able tocelebrate in the ceremony as they all had apart to play in the high standards achievedby our pupils”. He made special reference to

Gael-Linn, the local branch of Conradh naGaeilge and Comhaltas Uladh in particular fortheir services every year.

Without doubt, the opportunities forusing Irish in the Newry area are to bepraised. The new Irish Language hub,Gaeláras MhicArdghail, and a new IrishLanguage youth club, Club Óige an Iúir,(opening next month) are indeed, aninspiration to this group of pupils.

Mr Tennyson reserved special praise forthe group of students who participated inthis competition. He reminded them thatthey were an inspirational bunch of studentswho should build upon this success and thatthey were the future of the Irish Language in

the Newry and Mourne area.The Irish Department in the Abbey has

been very successful in the last number ofyears having been awarded two All-Irelandawards in 2008 and 2011 from Foras naGaeilge and now the Ashbourne Shield in2014.

Invited guests included: Bishop SeanMcAreavey, Mr Sean Fearon (ETINI IrishInspector), Réamonn Ó Ciaráin (Gael-Linn),Dominic Bradley (MLA), Ursula Mhic an tSaoirand Treasa Mhic Aoidh Bhuí (Newry andMourne Council), Séamas MacDhaibhéid(Gaeláras Mhic Ardghail), Peadar Ó hEochaidhand Margaret Comer (Craobh an Iúir).

pGuests from the local Irish Language community, members of the Irish Department and the pupils,whose command of the Irish Language impressed the judges, are pictured at the Sciath Mhic GiollaBhríde Presentation Ceremony.

Abbey Way June 2015 Page 2

Quizzes SeptemberTop Irish language Accolade for our Irish Department

pNiall Comer with members of the Irish Department; Mr Maurice McKevitt, Mr Sean Gallagher, Mr Dessie Tennyson (Head of Irish) and Mrs Pauline McClean)]

October

The Technology Club is open to allpupils throughout the school from yearsone to seven. The Young Engineers is anannual competition that enables youngpeople aged 11-25 years to demonstratetheir ingenuity and inventiveness. It isthe biggest event of its kind in the UKand offers a showcase to education andindustry of the wealth of innovation andcreativity amongst young people in UKschools and colleges, offering a platformfor pupils to put ideas into practice. Theclub meets several times a year as eventsdemand. The Young Innovators has now become

a regular annual event at the Abbey,enjoyed by teachers and pupils alike. Itis organised regionally by SENTINUS. Itwas held in the Odyssey and is thebiggest of its kind in the UK.

The pupils involved in the “GroupProject” specially prepared for the YoungInnovators Competition were: KillianHiggins, Jack Murphy, Cian Brady andBrendan O’Shea Winners of the KS3

Technology Category & Winners of aSpecial Award for the Best Use ofSoftware in Education.The pupils were assisted by Mr T

Mooney and Mr S Higgins

Page 3 June 2015

Tirnan Forde is congratulated by Mr DermotMcGovern, Headmaster, for achieving secondplace in Northern Ireland in GCSE PhysicalEducation Studies. Also included in thephotograph is Tiarnan’s PE teacher, Mr DanGordon and Mr Jody Gormley, Head of the PEDepartment.

Abbey GCSE PupilIs Second inNorthern Ireland

CCEA Success for Tiarnan Forde

The Arkwright Scholarships Trustadministers one of the most prestigiousscholarship schemes in the UK. 2014marked the second year it was availablein N.Ireland. Its purpose is to inspirefuture leaders in engineering and relatedareas of design by awarding ArkwrightEngineering Scholarships, through arigorous selection process. Jason McCabeand Glenn Mooney joined Shea Quinn,Rafael Ali, Zain Shahid, ChristopherDowney, John Catterson and James Vintas Abbey Arkwright Scholars. Eachscholar receives £600 towards their ALevel studies and collectively they have

secured £3,200 for the TechnologyDepartment over two years. Our scholarshave also been linked to a majorindustry sponsor and will receiveindividual tailored support and training

towards their chosen career path andmay obtain sponsorship throughuniversity. Their Mentor was Mr. T Mooney.

The ArkwrightScholarship

Young Engineers Club/Young Innovators

November

Abbey Way June 2015 Page 4

Mageen Final Heartbreak for Abbey Hurling Players

Mr Dermot McGovern, Headmaster Abbey Christian Brothers’Grammar School, Newry, congratulates three pupils from theschool, who represented the combined ‘An Dun’ U18 Hurling teamthis year. This team beat a fancied St Mary’s CBS Grammar School,Belfast, in the Mageean Cup semi Final, but were narrowly beaten

in this year’s Ulster Colleges Senior, Grade A Final by Cross andPassion College, Ballycastle. The pupils (l-r) are Ruairi Campbell,Niall Lennon and Matthew Mee. Also congratulating the hurlers areMr Mark Rodgers, School Hurling co-ordinator, and Mr Jody Gormley,Head of PE.

Abbey’s Ju-Jutsu Club founding member, Mr Ivan Mc Quaid, fromthe school support staff, is pictured with the latest group ofstudents who received their latest belts. The Ju-Jitsu Club isone of the newest clubs in the Abbey and has been going fromstrength to strength in recent years. The club meets after schoolon a Thursday and often includes guest coaches like former MacRory Cup winning Captain turned Ju-jitsu black belt, Mr Tony Mc

Mahon, as well as other recognised experts in the sport. TheClub is always keen to recruit new members and it is hoped thattheir numbers will continue to grow. The pupils pictured aboveall joined the club and have thus far been successful with atleast 4 gradings each. Anyone who wishes to join the Ju Jitsuclub can speak to Mr Gormley in the PE Department or go alongon a Thursday after school. Get involved- you won’t regret it!

Ju-Jitsu Boys Make the Grade

December

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Work Experience Award for Callum O’Neill

First YearsContribute to the Samaritan’sChristmas Appeal

This year a group of Abbey CBS students was invited to performat an event hosted by Saint Vincent DePaul. This event wasintended to support some of the less fortunate members of ourlocal community. The Abbey Jazz Band played a stellar musicalset including a stirring rendition of ‘’Smoke on the Water’’, tomuch acclaim from the audience. Following this, a group of ASEnglish Literature pupils performed a poetry recitation fromnumerous ‘’Abbey Press’’ tiles, with works ranging from Nobel

Prize Winner, Seamus Heaney, to poems from ex-pupil, PhillipKnox. The pupils would like to thank Mr McMahon and MrCosgrove for providing the opportunity to raise a few smiles andto help in the local community. We would also like to extend ourthanks to Saint Vincent DePaul for their wonderful work in thecommunity and (of course) for the copious refreshmentsprovided to the students! They were much appreciated.Cormac Rea

Callum O Neill, Year 13, is presented with his award for the Bank Of Ireland Sponsored Work Experience ‘Student Of the Year’ 2014.Senior Teacher, Mrs Catriona Mc Grath, is pictured with the representative from Bank of Ireland.

First year representatives from eachof the five form classes are picturedwith their Religion teachers, handingover their donations as part of theSamaritans’ Christmas appeal.

A Level English Students Perform at Saint Vincent DePaul Event

January

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English Department Careers Week 2015

A number of past pupils who work in fields requiring a specificfocus on English language skills were guest speakers at the AbbeyGrammar English Department’s Careers Focus Week.

Among the speakers were the Newry Reporter’s Donal McMahonand Cormac Campbell who spoke to students about forging a careerin journalism. Mark McGivern, who works in HR in local firm, FirstDerivatives, also spoke to students about his experiences, includinga meeting with the late South African leader, Nelson Mandela.

Conan Fegan spoke to a number of classes about the importanceof language and communication in his role as a barrister and gavepractical advice to those pupils interested in a career in law.

A recent Abbey past pupil, Donal O’Neill, spoke to pupils abouthis current degree in English and Politics at Queen’s. Donal spokefervently about the need to get involved in different areas whilst atschool and at university and praised the Abbey for the work it did indeveloping his interest in debates and current affairs.

Harbour

Shimmering stop-motion,The rush of indigo,Salt trickling,Crass, florid, licks of seawater,Stain the shore.

Twisted ash twigs cackle harmoniously,The barren fertility of the landRipples up foothills and Obsidian faces,Holding your hand, but ready to let go.

My father’s footsteps punish the ground,Each blade of sour yellow grass a martyr,Each toe-tap a hymnal beat,Reverberating across the stone-choked

abyss.Like steel-capped pilgrims,We trudge in droves,Sustained on sin,Thirsting for cajoling faith,Hands clasped in prayer.

Mass Rock

Poet’s Corner: Poems by Cormac Rea, Year 14

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February Strictly Come Danci The Canal Court Hotel, Newry, was the

place to be on Friday 27th February 2015,when the Abbey Zambian ImmersionProject hosted ‘Strictly for Zambia’. Anaudience of over five hundred vocalsupporters packed the Millar Suite, tocheer on a cast that included: teachers,pupils, support staff and friends of theAbbey. Twitter and Facebook posts haddeclared seventh year student, AnthonyCrilly, as ‘The People’s Champion’, and soit proved on the night as Anthony stormedto victory with a score of 39/40. As well

Abbey Way June 2015 Page 8

February ng for Zambiaas being a very entertaining night, thepurpose was to raise as much money aspossible for the Zambia ImmersionProject. Both aims were emphaticallyfulfilled as the generosity of the AbbeyCommunity was demonstrated by thedonations in tickets sales and through thecollections on the night. Our thanks go tothe very dedicated participants, who gaveso freely of their time to prepare for theshow and to everyone who contributed tothis night to remember.

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March The Zambia ImmersionProject 2015

This year the Zambia Immersion Project entered its 13th year. Thenumber one purpose of the project is to raise money for a community

desperately in need. Before flying out to Zambia onSt Patrick’s Day there was a lot of preparation to bedone along with a mammoth amount offundraising.

The process began last June, with an applicationform highlighting why we felt we were best suitedto be part of the project. Over the summer all of

the individuals who applied had to fundraise a certainamount of money to show who had the initiative to be part of theteam. From sponsored sky dives to quizzes, over seven thousandpound was collectively raised in this time between all of theapplicants. Everybody who fundraised over the summer attendedweekly meetings in Ms Hughes’ room during which we were all facedwith tasks and numerous discussions, which allowed the teachers toconsider who would be best suited to be part of the team. A specialmention has to be made to those who weren’t selected as the effortthey put in didn’t go unnoticed by those on the team. The moneythey raised had, and will continue to have, a massive impact inZambia.

When the team was selected, we took part in weekly meetings. Weagreed on a number of events to organise to promote our project. Itwas then up to us to make our ideas a reality. In the followingmonths, we had a quiz, Ce�ili and Christmas Jumper day. Futhermore,we had a taditionalmusic day in the Quays,two bag- packs and thejunior school held abakesale and a numberof in-school eventsthroughout the year.Members of the teamalso spoke at theirlocal churches over the Christmasperiod and held collections at the end of mass. On behalf of the teamI would like to thank all those who attended the many events andhelped in any way at all. It is very much appreciated as the projectwould not be a success without such support.

An early big fundraising event was the Ice-bucket challenge, in whichto their credit, many of the teachers went out of their comfort zones,to help the projects cause, getting drenched.The highlight for all of us wasseeing 'The Gaffer', MrMcGovern, get a bad soakin' bySister Julie. A special mentionto Mr Rodgers who decided totactically remove himself fromthe votes until late on in thehope of not getting selected -however that didn’t quite go toplan.

Next was the Project jerseys. After lots ofdiscussions, a ridiculous number of draftsand a Facebook poll, a design and colourscheme was agreed upon. We then had totake orders, sort and distribute the jerseyswhich thankfully went according to plan.

Strictly for Zambia was the nextevent for the team to organise.Although the dancers may argue theydidn’t need them, lessons thankfullybegan at the end of November. Aspecial word of thanks to all thedancers and those behind the sceneswho organised and helped out onthe night. Twinkle Toes, Tony Crilly,is still buzzing from his victory.

The team then switched focus fromfundraising to what we would bedoing in Zambia, practisingcooking and preparing for whatwe’d be doing on a daily basis. Wewere ready to let the immersion begin.

The journey to Livingstone, Zambia,began on the 17th of March 2015.We left the school as a group andheaded for Dublin airport where wecaught an 8 hour flight to Dubai.We then had another 8 hour flightfrom Dubai to the capital ofZambia, Lusaka.

Believe it or not, wethen had another 8 hour journey to endure

and this time it was by bus. This was the final legof the journey and it brought us to ourdestination: Fawlty Towers, Livingstone.Although we were extremely tired after all of thetravelling, we constantly reminded ourselves ofthe purpose for our journey so therefore weknew it would be worth it.

The purpose of the journey was toboth educate and to becomeeducated. In Zambia the teamtaught across three differentschools on the outskirts ofLivingstone. Two of the schools wetaught in are funded by the ZambiaImmersion Project. These schoolsare Linda and Libuyu communityschools. The team had a tremendous time teaching in the threeschools and we were inspired and humbled by the kids’ enthusiasmto learn, despite their hunger and fatigue from walking for hours toget to school.

Abbey Way June 2015 Page 10

March

I happened to be teaching in Linda CommunitySchool where I was lucky enough to go on 'homevisits'. Again, I was humbled by the people'sgenerosity when I entered their home and howhonoured they felt to have "Muzungos" (that'swhite people to me and you) in their home. Whilstat Linda community school the team noticed awall which was painted with many vibrant colours.Upon enquiry we were told it's called 'The Wall of

Dreams'. The children in the school had painted the wall.They had all painted themselves and inside a dream bubble they hadpainted their aspirations for their future. It was a poignant reminderthat the Zambian children are identical to us. No matter what yourbackground is or where you come from everybody has the aspirationto turn their dream into a reality.

The majority of our evening timewas spent in 'Lubasi Home', one ofthe two orphanages heavilysubsidised by the ZambiaImmersion Project. It was always arelief at the end of the day headingto a place full of joy and laughter.The children were always smilingand ready to play any game theycould conjure up. Every time we went to Lubasi webegan with a game of football and no, we neverwon... That never stopped us trying though,especially Mr G Savage who even ripped his sandalswhile attempting to keep goals out. We wouldgradually realise that we were getting hammered

and sift out of the gameone-by-one to talk and playwith other children around the orphanage.The downside of being in the orphanagewas knowing the reason why most of thechildren were there. Most of the childrenwho live in Lubasi have been abandonedby their parents.

While we were in Zambia we got the opportunityto meet and work with people in the quarry.Workers laboured for twelve hours straight,breaking large rocks into small rocks and earningthe equivalent of £1.70 for that day. While wewere at the quarry we gave the people breakingstones a rest and helped them for a couple ofhours. They were extremely grateful for our help.

While we were out inZambia we were luckyenough to get the chanceto see the largestwaterfall in the world,

Victoria Falls. Whilst visitingVictoria Falls we had theopportunity to cross theZambia - Zimbabwe border.We were also lucky enoughto see some wild Africananimals in Botswana'sNational Safari Park,Chobe.

We each got the opportunity to visit thecompounds in and around Livingstonewith an organisation that our projectalso funds called 'St Francis’ Daycare'.On these daycare visits we got thechance to ask the locals about theirlives and about their tribal cultures.

We also gave the locals theopportunity to ask us questions aboutour project and about Ireland. Whilewe were asking and answeringquestions on the visits, the St. FrancisDaycare team were administeringsimple but vital medicines andmedical advice. When we arrived atthe outdoor daycare clinics, we weregreeted with dancing and singing and it was always a joy to be apart of it.

The team (pictured below) would like to reiterate our thanks toeverybody who was involved in the fundraising efforts for this year'sZambia Immersion Project. The team had an unforgettable experience,that the rest of the team and I would love to be starting all overagain. We would like to again emphasise that your efforts in helpingthe team have definitely not gone unnoticed in Zambia. The memoriesof The Zambia Immersion Project 2015 will forever be engraved inmy mind and I think that I speak for the whole team when I say weall look forward to going back to Zambia some time in the future.

Thanks again, Finbar Burns, Zambia Immersion Project, 2015

p Back L-R: Mr Dermot McGovern, Anthony Crilly, Luke Byrne, Ms Annalise Reynolds, Killian McEvoy, Zain Shahid, Éamonn Burns, SeanÓg Boyle, Ross O’Hanlon, Christopher Downey, Mr Gerald Savage

Front L-R: Finbar Burns, Odhrán McCaffery, Patrick Murdock, Orlagh Hughes

p Back L-R: Finbar Burns, Patrick Murdock, Chris Downey, Zain Shahid,Odhrán McCaffrey, Éamonn Burns, Killian McEvoy, Anthony Crilly,

Luke Byrne, Ruairi CampbellFront L-R: Ross O’Hanlon, Mr Gerald Savage, Ms Orla Hughes, Mr Dermot McGovern, Ms Annelise Reynolds, Sean Óg Boyle

More Public Speaking Success for the Irish Department

April

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Our Gael-Linn Abair public speakers, Eoin Lane and Ryan Mc Keown, and seniors,Joseph Mc Keown and Ronan Lavery, were among the stand-out performers at thisyear’s Gael Linn Abair Finals in Maghera.

Ryan McKeown, Year 12, was runner up in the GCSE Section. The judges commentedon Ryan’s confidence and presence, as well as the quality of his spoken Irish. EoinLane, Year 11, was also highly commended for his Ulster Final speech. He spokeconfidently and will, no doubt be a strong contender next year for the title.

In a highly competitive A-Level section, Ronan Lavery, Year 13, came second andJoe McKeown, Year 14, came third.

Mr Tennyson, Head of Irish, said after the results: “I wish to thank those teacherswho have allowed the boys to practise in front of their own students at various stagesthis year. It has to be said also that none of this would be possible without thestewardship of Maurice McKevitt who devotes so much time and energy working withour public speakers.”

tMr Dermot McGovern congratulates Michael Jordan, Year 13, for his published article in Gael-Linn'slatest publication 'Aspects of a Shared Heritage'. Michael's article entitled 'Who am I as an IrishSpeaker?' is published alongside recognised poets, lecturers, writers and Irish Language activists suchas Mícheál B Ó Mainnín, Art Hughes, Linda Ervine and Janet Muller.

The collection of essays is designed to be informative, inspirational and intends to disperse some ofthe myths surrounding the Irish language and culture.

Michael Jordan’s Essay Published by Gael Linn

If I’m honest I hadn’t realised that if wewon in Northern Ireland we would be goingto the UK Finals in London. It was onlyafterwards walking home with my fellowteammates, Eoin Monaghan, James McKevittand Dan Foster that it finally sunk in.

After the discovery we devoted everylunchtime to making sure we knew everylittle topic from Dickens’ novels to Worldcapitals, with Mr Gamble keeping an eye onthe proceedings. Every team member wouldneed to be buzzing in, so we practised hard.

After a month of rigorous training, it wasfinally time to go. We all met at BelfastInternational Airport and after strollingthrough the duty free shops and restaurantswe boarded our flight to Gatwick.

We finally arrived at our hotel after oneflight, three trains and a bus journey. Wewere all tired and hungry after four hours oftravelling and were thankful when the hotelmanager recommended an Indian Restaurant.That night we all went to bed with ourstomachs full.

The plan for Saturday was to explore. Assoon as we got our breakfast we walked toCroydon Train Station, got our day passes andmade our way into London practising ourquizzing on the way. We headed for TheScience Museum, and then The NaturalHistory Museum - both were reallyinteresting, especially the huge working

steam engines andThe EarthquakeExhibition. We thenwandered throughthe West End,passing LeicesterSquare, theatres andcinemas and a hugeWaterstone's outletbefore Mr Grogan led us on a walking tourseeing Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, TheMall and The Southbank.

Sunday was our day of reckoning. In thetime between various expeditions we hadquizzed each other senseless. After breakfastwe made our way to the train station andheaded to the city dressed in our schooluniforms and with our suitcases. Afterpassing through several gates and tunnels atthe side of Westminster Cathedral we cameupon the courtyard of Westminster Schooland the other Regional Winning Teams, Theyseemed to have a lot of family and friends intow all wanting them to win: this was slightlyintimidating. After a briefing we headed tothe Music Department for our first matchagainst Hereford Cathedral School: the ‘Abbeyversus the Cathedral’.

After twenty nine minutes and thirtyseconds of feverish questions, the scoreswere 800 to 800 and it came down to the lastround.

Hereford were first on the buzzer for thestarter question. Dismay set in, but thebonus questions were to come - they were onDickens and our resident Dickens expert, DanFoster, was beside me. Hereford got the firsttwo bonus questions wrong and then we gotthem right. The final bonus Hereford gotwrong again and we got right. A feeling ofeuphoria came over us all. We had done it!We were through the semi-finals!

In the semi-final we met King Edward’sSchool Birmingham. We started well but thensome of the questions didn’t go our way andin the end we lost to a strong team. Aftercoming so far and losing we were all verydisappointed.

Unfortunately, this was the final yearthat our two senior powerhouses, EoinMonaghan and James McKevitt, will berepresenting the Abbey in Quizzes. They arebrilliant quizzers and we wish them the bestof luck in their future endeavours.Christopher Dunne

The Road to WestminsterQuizzes

April

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Head boy, Eoin Monaghan, wins Br. McFarland trophy

In another highly competitive seniordebating final attended by pupils, parents andfriends of the Abbey, the eight finalists drawnfrom Years 11-14 battled it out to see whosename would be inscribed on the prestigious Br.McFarland trophy for 2015.

Local solicitor and sponsor, Mr RoryMcShane, attended in his capacity asadjudicator and spoke of the importance ofmaintaining the Abbey tradition of debatingand of the quality of the debate. Studentsargued the motion, “This House believes civildisobedience is an important weapon to enactchange”, impressing the House with theirunderstanding of the topic and their composurein putting forward well-defined arguments.

We were honoured to have Mr Alex Kane asour guest adjudicator this year. He not onlyshowed the keen reasoning we expected fromhis role as political commentator, but he was aninspiring speaker himself with encouragingwords for the finalists and an unparalleledfrankness when telling us of his own life,thereby thoroughly engaging the packedassembly hall.

Congratulations go to all seven finalists ontheir individual performances: Andrew McAteer;Dan Foster; Ronan Lavery, Kevin McCumiskey andin particular to those placed: James Vint, placedthird in his first ever final – a great result;Gareth Deane, runner-up in an admirably foughtcampaign; and to Eoin Monaghan, seniordebating champion 2015, for his accomplishedperformance in a superb final.

Gareth Deane’s debating career beganwith winning an award in Year 9, presentedat the senior debating final. Mrs McGivern hassince claimed the credit for talent-spotting ayoung challenger who had all the signs ofbeing a stalwart competitor.

A first round debate, with team-mateAndrew McAteer, in Debating Matters and theresearcher’s role in our EU Mock Councildelegation for France in 2013, alongside ZainShahid and Eoin Monaghan, effectivelyconsolidated Gareth’s drive to take part inexternal events. It was the year that beganthe cycle of competitions of our mostsuccessful Abbey debater to date.

In February 2015, he was awardedrunner-up best individual speaker at Queen’sUniversity, Belfast. This followed previoussuccess in the NI Schools competition as asixth year student in 2014, where eightyschools participate, and very few prevail. It

was a remarkable achievement and a veryproud moment to see Gareth claim therunner-up spot in the individual speaker’sfinal at Stormont, particularly in acompetition of such quality and where thenumber of participants is in the hundreds.

The same year Gareth won the Br.McFarland trophy in exemplary fashion,having been a finalist as a fifth year studentthe year before. What is perhaps mostnotable about his fast progression throughthe ranks of debating is his drive to improveand therefore his ability to deal withconstructive criticism. In a string ofcompetitions, he never skimped on hispreparation or shied away from hearing howhe could still improve. Such tenacity isunderscored by an unwavering determinationto succeed; a winning combination in anycompetition, one we can be proud of when soexemplified in an Abbey debater.

Gareth Deane – Another Debate, Another Final

Ms Reynolds, Teacher in Charge of Debating, Bids a Fond Farewell to the Year 14 Debaters

To the senior debaters who competed in: Debating Matters, EU Mock Council, QUBLiterific, NI Schools and the Br. McFarland competition, and who will leave us this year topursue their academic studies at university, it has been my privilege and my pleasure tohave worked with you for the many external or internal competitions, mentoring of juniordebaters and general arguments that ensued on any topic at any given time!

I wish you well in your endeavours to be the best that you can be and am grateful toyou for leaving Abbey Debating stronger than you found it.

To the following debaters for their commitment to developing debating in school:Callum, Andrew, Zain, Eoin and Gareth, it was worth every minute. Thank you. ARProfile

Debating

Page 13 Abbey Way June 2015

May Year Elevens visit Carlingford Adventure Centre

Year Eight Head, Mrs Elmore, hands over a cheque to representatives of the “Buddy Bear Scheme” from money raised by Year Eights.

The Year Eleven Pastoral focus this year centred on students’ generalemotional well-being. This focus centred on their attitudes to things thatmake them happy: happy in themselves, happy in their learningenvironment and happy in their levels of engagement that helped themnurture their own social and personal development.

Key Stage Four is a significant stepping stone for students in theirpersonal, social and emotional development. Most students set challengingtargets for themselves academically. Societal, parental, and peer influencesstimulate further expectations on their personal, emotional and spiritualgrowth.

This year we have used a range of activities including: speakers fromthe ‘Samaritans’, ‘MensSana’ (Action Mental Health), a visit to the ‘Newry& Mourne Teenage Health Fair’ and a fun day out at Carlingford AdventureCentre, to provide constructive, positive and supporting learning contextsboth inside and outside of the classroom.

Mrs C Mc GrathYear Tutor

First Years RaiseMoney to Support‘Buddy Bear’

Year Eight Charity Work

Year 11 Personal Development

The highlight of June was the second annual Junior AbbeyMasterchef, organised by the Home Economics department. Thisevent is fast becoming one of themost eagerly anticipated events of theyear as our second year pupils cook offfor the prestigious title. Over fiftystaff and pupils turned up to samplethe menus, but not before VicePrincipal, Mr Ruddy, and Year Tutor, MrGallagher, this year’s judges, hadtasted each course. After muchdebating, and many trips back to theirfavourite dishes, the judges selectedBen Cunningham, Slemish Two, asMasterchef 2015. Ben cooked astarter of Buffalo wings followed by amain course of cracking burger withblue cheese, caramelised onion andwedges. Finally he served a desert ofmixed chocolate brownie withraspberries and ice-cream. The judgesalso presented three further awards:Divij Pratapati’s starter of ChickenTikka Kebabs, won Best Starter. RíainWallace scooped an award for the BestMain Course, for his Lamb Cutlets withBaby Boiled Potatoes and homemadeMint Sauce. Finally, best desert wentto Odhran Goodman, for his WaffleBerry Pudding.

Ben Cunningham wins Masterchef 2015

The 2015 Masterchef Finalists

Ben Cunningham's America Themed winning dish

The chefs work hard as timeruns out

Riain Wallace's perfectly cooked lamb-

Winner of best main course

May

Abbey Way June 2015 Page 14

Abbey Golf Team Wins the Darren Clarke Schools’ Golf League

Lisburn Golf Club was the venue for thisyear’s Darren Clarke Schools’ Golf Leaguefinal. Abbey CBS booked their place in thefinal after overcoming Omagh CBS in a tightsemi-final game. Awaiting them there wereSt. Malachy’s College, Belfast, the reigningchampions.

Despite the weather fluctuating betweenhailstones, sunshine and blustery winds, thestandard of golf was very impressive at times.The first 3 games all went to at least the 16thgreen with the Abbey winning 2.5 points outof 3 thanks to some excellent golf from LewisCowan, Ruairi McCormack and John Dunne.Vincent Toner, who had a great win in the

semi-final, came up against an opponent whochipped in twice for birdie in the opening 4holes and was unplayable on the day. Onceagain it came down to the young players atthe tail end of the order. Ethan Patterson,Sean Rock and Eoin Reel have been veryconsistent performers throughout thecompetition, contributing 7.5 points out ofa possible 9 in the last 3 rounds. It was

perhaps fitting that Eoin was the player tosink the winning putt, not only maintaininghis 100% record in the competition but alsoto securing the title for the Abbey for thefirst time.

The team will now meet Darren Clarke atThe Irish Open for a formal presentation ofprizes.

Abbey CSB Newry v St. Malachy’s College, Belfast

Masterchef

JuneLocal Charities Benefit from Edmund Rice Fun Day

Page 15 Abbey Way June 2015

Third Year Pupils Sign off Key Stage Three with a trip to Tayto Park

Representatives of all the winning junior form classes pictured with their form teachers, year tutors and members of the school management team