A group of transition year students from Scoil Bhríde Mercy secondary school in Tuam have been named audience favourite at Junk Kouture in a public vote hosted by RTE. The winning team - Nia Lydon, Beibhinn Gleeson, and Katelyn Boyle - now in fifth year at Scoil Bhríde, facilitated by their art teacher Lisa Browne during transition year, fashioned hundreds of reused cable ties and broken phone charger leads to create a showstopping outfit called Gold Cobra.
"The team and the Mercy school community would like to sincerely thank every person in Tuam and beyond who voted and got us over the line," Lisa Browne said. "We were blown away by the support shown to us over the last number of weeks and we appreciate every single vote and share. Our final tally was close to 150,000 votes which I think you will agree is phenomenal."
Gearóid Leen, principal at Mercy Tuam, added: "The work that has gone on in the school’s art department planning and preparing students for the national Junk Kouture competition is extraordinary every year. Gold Cobra is an example of this fantastic work. Well done to the three students - Beibhinn Gleeson, Nia Lydon, Katelyn Boyle - who spent long hours and effort to bring this dress to the national finals on RTE television, and well done also to the dedicated work of their art teacher Miss Lisa Browne.
"This is a great accolade for the students involved and for Scoil Bhríde, Mercy Tuam secondary school. In the lead up to Christmas this gives us all a great sense of achievement, lifting the school’s team spirit. We would like to thank everyone who voted for us. It is great to have a very positive story about the Mercy Tuam students on the national airwaves."
After much deliberation, research, and idea generation at the beginning of their project back in autumn 2020 the transition year students took inspiration from the Greek mythological figure Medusa. The Gold Cobra outfit - comprising dress and headdress - features a gold snake motif which symbolises the power and strength within us. Snakes are a symbol of transformation and rebirth. The team believed this to be a positive and empowering message for teenage girls as they transform into young independent women. The individually crafted shapes in the train represents the shedding of old skin and becoming a new, improved, person. The team chose the colour gold because it is the colour of success, achievement, and triumph. This is what they are striving for in their new life.
As the emphasis of the competition is that the entries are made of 'junk' and reused materials and items, the group used old cable ties collected from local builders, plumbers, and electricians to create an elaborate four foot train for their design, and old broken charging cables were fashioned and sculpted into a golden crown-like headpiece.
The school has a long running reputation of a wholistic approach to education, nurturing the academic, sports, the arts, and music, through taking part in competitions such as Junk Kouture, as well as activities such as the annual opera or musical. This year the performance of Grease, in collaboration with St Jarlath’s, in spite of the absence of a live show, was recorded and streamed live, allowing the students taking part in the performance to benefit from the experience.
