A team from the Patrician High School, Carrickmacross, Co Monaghan scooped the top prize at last week’s ICTU Youth for Decent Work Awards with their video “Oops”.

The award ceremony took place last week at Dublin’s Savoy Cinema. The competition is run by ICTU Youth Connect Programme for second level students, and takes the form of a short movie video production. 

Almost 100 entries are shortlisted with 20 nominated for the awards. The winners are chosen by four independent judges from four separate categories, including best acting, most original/creative, best interpretation and best overall video.

Host Aonghus Óg McAnally said he “felt like he was presenting the Oscars” to a packed Screen One in the Savoy, such was the air of excitement. “With Ireland’s recent success at the Oscars, I am sure we will be seeing some of today’s talent emerging on a bigger future stage”.

The winning entry combined humour and great acting to deliver a serious message under the theme of Health and Safety in the workplace. Other entries covered a range of issues including mental health, workplace stress, hazardous substances and farmyard safety. The importance of trade union membership for healthy and safe workplaces was emphasised in the videos.  It was refreshing to see how the second level students interpreted the topic and produced such informed videos.

Kevin Callinan, ICTU vice president and IMPACT’s deputy general secretary, presented the award to the overall winning team. He said the awards were “a wonderful showcase of the amazing talent of our students who are presenting a complex and challenging topic to us in a way which is engaging and educational but ultimately entertaining.”

Youth Connect’s programme coordinator Fiona Dunne said “through your involvement and participation in this competition we hope that you understand the concept and importance of the many elements which make up DECENT WORK and we can see some of that learning through the very fine interpretation and creativity evidenced in these pieces or work. DECENT WORK is important for all workers everywhere, but particularly for those new to the workplace, such as students and young workers.”

The winning students and their teachers will be rewarded for their efforts with sponsorship prizes including an all-expenses paid trip to New York, and workshops with the visual effects academy Image Ireland, the Gaeity School of Acting, and ANU productions. 

You can watch all the winning videos HERE and find out more at the Youth Connect website.