Louth's Gaelcholáiste Dhún Dealgan wins top prize at youth film festival

Students from Gaelcholáiste Dhún Dealgan were thrilled to take home the top prize in the Junior category for Best Short Film at the recent First Cut Youth Film Festival in Cork.

The festival, which has been running for the past sixteen years, included a special competition titled Athrú Amháin / One Change, encouraging young filmmakers to explore climate change and solutions as Gaeilge through a 1-2 minute short film.

The students began working on this cross-curricular project last November, incorporating their knowledge from Science, CSPE, Mathematics and Home Economics. “This was a fantastic opportunity for students to showcase what they had learned in an engaging and creative way,” explained Deputy Principal Caoimhe.

Under the guidance of Múinteoir Ryan, a Visual Art teacher with a passion for filmmaking, the students took charge of every aspect of production—from scriptwriting and set design to acting, animation, filming and editing. Their short film examined the impact of food miles on climate change and highlighted a simple solution: choosing locally sourced Irish food.

By investigating the carbon footprint of two popular dishes—fresh fruit salad and beef stew—they demonstrated the importance of buying Irish and looking for the Bord Bia Quality Mark when shopping. The school wishes to pay special thanks to Conradh na Gaeilge Dhún Dealgan who supported this project. 

Their hard work and creativity was recognised with the Micheál Ó Loinsigh Memorial Irish Language Youth Filmmaker Award, marking a proud moment for the students and teachers. 

Gaelcholáiste Dhún Dealgan, Dundalk’s newest school and the only Irish-medium post-primary school in Louth, is located in Robin House, The Ramparts. It currently has First and Second Year students. Everyone is welcome, it is not a requirement that a child attends a Gaelscoil.  For more information or to register a sixth-class student, contact eolas@gcdd.ie.