Two years of 'immense work' really paid off for four Co. Cork students who today (Friday, 6) claimed the coveted Certified Irish Angus School's Competition overall award at Croke Park.

Four students from Sacred Heart Secondary School, Clonakilty, Co. Cork were announced as the winners of the 2026 Certified Irish Angus School’s Competition.

The Certified Irish Angus School's Competition, in association with ABP and Kepak, challenges students to rear five Irish Angus calves for beef production for two years.

Students Lucy Kirby, Ciara O’Driscoll, Niamh O’Sullivan and Ellen O’Neill impressed the judges with their creation of a consumer education tool.

The Co. Cork students told Agriland that all the hard work was worth it after winning the overall competition today.

Niamh O' Sullivan said: "It's an amazing opportunity to have won the Certified Irish Angus School’s Competition, we've put immense work into it throughout the two years, and its really after paying off."

Lucy Kirby also explained about their project: "It was about increasing awareness of the Certified Irish Angus brand and creating a clear link between the farmer and the consumer, realising there is a disconnect between them both."

With the four students coming from farming backgrounds, they leaned on their existing knowledge and brought, according to judges "great determination and creativity to their project".

They also highlighted to farmers how the Angus breed helps to "increase the reproductive efficiency of a farm and provided a breeding and buying checklist to support farmers in their work".

Ellen O' Neill said that the whole experience was 'unreal' an that 'you couldn't get it anywhere else'.

The students also developed a special mascot, ‘Éire the Angus’ which supported their educational tool to inform consumers about premium Irish beef and the care and attention that is required to produce it.

Certified Irish Angus School’s Competition

Farming experts are currently judging the next batch of potential entrants for the next Certified Irish Angus School's Competition from a pool of 53 shortlisted schools.

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

The five schools that "best demonstrate an understanding of the competition", along with innovative project ideas will be announced later this year at the National Ploughing Championships in September.

On completion of the project, each of the finalists will get a major financial boost from selling 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.

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