TRANSITION year students across the Mid West will have the opportunity to share their vision for the future of the Shannon Estuary as part of a filmmaking competition.
The Shannon Foynes Port Company’s Compass schools competition returns this year for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and seeks to put transition year (TY) students in the frame to create films visualising the future of the estuary as a global renewable energy hub in the decades ahead.
Organised by the port authority, the biennial competition will be an opportunity for TY students in counties Limerick, Clare, and Kerry to create a short film that predicts what realising the unprecedented renewable energy opportunity on the Shannon Estuary will do for the region and the nation as a whole.
The theme of this year’s competition is ‘Shooting the Breeze’ and there will be a €2,000 top prize for the winning school.
Students create a film of a maximum duration of seven minutes that will focus on the impact of wind power, what it will deliver in terms of sustainability and the downstream economic opportunities as the Shannon Estuary becomes the production hub for Ireland’s estimated 80GW of offshore wind – 10 times the nation’s domestic requirement – waiting to be tapped off the Atlantic seaboard.
Entry forms must be returned by 31 January 2024, with a further eight weeks for the TY teams to create their short film, which must be submitted by March 21.
The top five films will then be announced on April 8, with the chosen teams presenting their films at a gala awards event in the Foynes Flying Boat and Maritime Museum on April 26.
Shannon Foynes Port Chief Executive Pat Keating said: “Compass has been a great instrument for growing awareness among the youth of the region of the opportunity for the Shannon Estuary to become an international renewable energy generation hub.”
“Participating schools have found it beneficial in terms of gaining awareness of our unique opportunity in this region to lead Ireland’s and influence Europe’s green transition, but they have really enjoyed the process. So, we would encourage as many as possible to enter. Our partnership with the Hunt Museum is an extra attraction as students visiting the exhibition will get plenty of inspiration and insight from it for their short film.”
