Laois schools impress at Certified Irish Angus Schools' Competition

LAOIS students from Mountmellick Community School and Portlaoise College impressed attendees at the 2026 Certified Irish Angus Schools' Competition at Croke Park.

The competition, which challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves and learn about the care required to produce beef for consumption, took place on Friday 6 March. Its aim is to blend practical learning with research skills to support career development.

Sarah Hibbitts, Katie Mahon, Lily Conroy, Eimear Redmond from Mountmellick Community School exhibited their project on the global impact of local produce.

Katerina Kolesnikova, Nadia Hadenrajch, Olga Kozajiewicz, and Taylor Dowling from Portlaoise College also exhibited their work to judges and attendees.

Despite fierce competition, four students from the Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, Co. Cork were named overall winners of the competition.

Now in its 12th year, the Certified Irish Angus competition, which is run in association with partners ABP and Kepak, has attracted over 1,000 students from 361 groups across 25 counties.

Farming experts are currently shortlisting the next group of entrants from a pool of 53 schools.

The judges include representatives from across the agri-food industry, including ABP, Kepak, Tesco, Bord Bia, IASTA, NPA, Our Food Roots, IFA and Musgrave.

The five schools that best demonstrate innovative project ideas will be announced at the National Ploughing Championships in September.

On completion of the project, each of the finalists receives the financial benefit involved in the selling of the animals to the processors which amounts to an average €10,000 per group.

The overall winning students also receive an additional grant of €2,000 for their further education.