Mayo school wins national award for Basking Shark project

A MAYO national school has been announced as the national winner of the Marine Institute's Explorers Education Programme for their project on the Basking Shark.

Dooagh National School on Achill Island were today announced as the national winners of the Explorers Education Programme's Ocean Champion Award for 2024. The 33-pupil three teacher school was one of 15 primary schools around Ireland who were shortlisted for the Explorers Ocean Champions Awards marking World Ocean Day for their project on the Basking Shark.

Dr Rick Officer, the CEO of the Marine Institute, travelled to Achill this morning where he announced Dooagh NS as the national champions and made a presentation to the school pupils. He congratulated them on the award saying their project on the Basking Shark was an inspiration for the whole community.

“Your commitment to this project has made a huge difference to your community here in Achill and it is really inspiring. You sent a really clear message about protecting sharks and about creating a healthy environment in oceans for everyone.

“Thanks so much for the huge contribution you have made for this project. We have been enormously impressed and the people judging the Explorer Educational Award have been particularly impressed by the impact a small school like this has made to your community and it is a real demonstration of what a small community can do for an island nation like ours.

“The Explorers Education programme recognises effort, commitment and collaboration between teachers, children and the wider community working together for a better understanding about the importance of the ocean and engaging communities and others in that work,” he said at the ceremony in Dooagh NS.

Sixth class pupil Bernie McNamara pictured beside artwork produced as part of Basking Shark project

As part of the project, the school pupils took part in beach clean-ups and art workshops, visited the Marine Institute outside Newport to learn more about marine life, and created two life-size sharks on Keel beach with a message for everyone to respect the shark when it's close to the shore.

The sight of the Basking Shark close to the Achill coast in early summer is a major tourist attraction but its population was almost wiped out by overfishing. Up to 1,000 Basking Sharks were killed off the Achill coast every year in the 1950s and 60s when the liver of the shark was a prized commodity.

The shark industry created employment for up to 100 people but the exploitation of the shark almost wiped it out completely and the hunting ceased in the early 1980s. The pupils interviewed local man Brian McNeill, who once fished for the shark, to get an understanding of what life was like for fishermen.

The Basking Shark is now a protected species and the numbers visiting the Achill coast are growing every year.

Local TD, Rose Conway-Walsh and local councillor Paul McNamara both congratulated the school pupils on winning the national title with Cllr McNamara saying it was the equivalent of them winning an All-Ireland.

Irene Gielty, the Principal of Dooagh NS thanked all the people who helped in the project especially Sorsha Kennedy, the local Explorers Education officer who encouraged the school to take part.

She said that everyone enjoyed working on the project but acknowledged it was the children who were the driving force behind it.

“We all thoroughly enjoyed the Basking Shark project and we are all extremely proud of the work and engagement and commitment shown by the children. We know they will remember forever not only this day but about the knowledge they learned as well and the tremendous sense of collaboration and teamwork which was wonderful.

“For us working with them there were so many memorable moments throughout the whole project...there was a real buzz about everything. But it was the children's enthusiasm which drove the whole project on,” she said.

The school also marked the presentation of its second Gaelbhratach for the promotion of the Irish language amongst the pupils as well as marking its involvement in the Creative Schools Programme.