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A ‘Gala’ Gift of €10,000 for Caherline National School in Caherconlish

Caherline National School are the winners of the Gala Gifts for School Competition and was presented with a cheque for €10,000 to spend on the school project of their choice. Photographed at the event were back row from left Paul Cluskey, Gala Regional Manager, Andy Chen, Ashtown Centre, Courtbrack, Billy Massey, Gala National Manager and Tony Cluskey, Gala Marketing Manager. Seated from left Flora Crowe, Gala, Sixmilebridge, student Emmeline Power(5), teacher Orlagh Eickholz, TV presenter and personality Aoibhin Garrihystudent Kate Lynch and Susan O’Connor, Gala, Ballysimon. Picture: Liam Burke Press 22.

A ‘Gala’ Gift of €10,000 for Caherline National School in Caherconlish

Caherline National School

Caherline N.S. are the winners of the Gala Gifts for School Competition and was presented with a cheque for €10,000 to spend on the school project of their choice. The children show their joy at their schools win. Picture: Liam Burke Press 22.

As part of its 20th-anniversary celebrations, the Gala Retail visited Caherline National School in Caherconlish, Limerick, on Friday, May 4th, to donate a huge €10,000 to the school as part of its Gala Gifts for Schools competition! 


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Caherline National School was named as the winner in the Gala Gifts for Schools competition, following the school submitting a 30 seconds video on how they would spend a ‘Gala Gift’ at the school to improve the education and school days of their pupils. 

Hundreds of schools from across Ireland entered the competition, and a judging panel, comprising of actress Aoibhín Garrihy; Editor of Primary Times, Marie O’Reilly; and Gala Retail’s CEO, Gary Desmond, deemed Caherline National School to have one of the top videos on the day. 

Actress Aoibhín Garrihy surprised the school by appearing at a special assembly in which she gifted the school, on behalf of Gala Retail, a huge €10,000 which the school pledged to spend on an ASD classroom to cater for the needs of children with Autism who attend the school.

A teacher at Caherline National School, Orlagh Eichholz, explains: When I first heard about the Gala Gifts for Schools competition, I was determined that our pupils and I would be as creative as possible and create a video that showcased our school and our wonderful pupils. We wanted to show how a ‘Gala Gift’ could make a huge difference to Caherline NS and in particular develop our facilities for our new class for pupils with Autism. We are fundraising to buy land at the moment to build a classroom for students with Autism, a mainstream classroom, car park and garden area, so this amazing gift from Gala of €10,000 couldn’t have come at a better time. 

“A lot of time and thought went into our video, and it’s been worth all of the efforts! Special thanks and congratulations to all the wonderful pupils in the video, and also to Miss Riordan and Peter Tiernan for their help.  To have been named as the winning school, receiving such a significant sum of money, is incredible! This will make a real difference to our school and will be of huge benefit to our pupils’ learning experiences. There’s such a buzz here in Caherline NS and we’d like to thank Gala Retail for this extremely generous donation to our school. It means so much to us all here in Caherline. We wish Gala Retail a very happy 20th anniversary.” 

Known for community-focused convenience retailing, Gala Retail pledged to donate €20,000 to Primary Schools to mark its milestone 20th year and give back to the communities in which its stores serve. 

Aoibhín Garrihy was joined by Gala’s Marketing Manager, Tony Cluskey, and local Gala retailers at the prize presentation at Caherline National School.  

Mr. Cluskey adds: “The creativity and innovation shown in the videos that we received from Primary Schools across Ireland were outstanding. It was extremely hard to judge the competition based on the caliber of entries, however, the video from Caherline National School really stood out thanks to its creativity, innovation, how a Gala cash gift could really benefit the school, and of course, its pupils being the stars of the show in the video! 

“We look forward to following the progress of the school’s plans and are hoping to visit Caherline National School later in the year to see how the €10,000 has been spent, and most importantly, how it’s benefitting the pupils’ education.” 

2018 is a major milestone year for Gala Retail and throughout the year, the symbol group will be giving back to its communities to thank customers for their loyal and ongoing custom. Follow Gala Retail on Facebook to keep up-to-date on forthcoming promotions and competitions.

 

For more stories on local schools, go here.

For more information on Gala gift, go here.

For more information on Caherline National School, go here.

Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.