TY students Aisling Mullarkey and Hope Gillespie from St Mary's Secondary School in Ballina have impressed renowned Irish singer-songwriter Damien Dempsey with their inspirational composition 'Skies of Blue'.
Hope, who is from Ballina, and Aisling, who lives near Enniscrone in Co Sligo, composed the song for the 2021 'Sing All Your Cares Away' song competition, which is run by the Inspire You Ireland organisation in conjunction with Damien Dempsey.
Inspire You Ireland provides a safe platform where young Irish people can develop ideas and communicate their passions in real life.
Inspired by Dempsey's hit track 'Sing All Your Cares Away', the organisation launched its song competition as a means of encouraging young Irish musicians to sing about a brighter tomorrow.
Aisling and Hope certainly rose to the challenge.
Both are keen music students and have performed at local feiseanna and in local musical productions from an early age.
They were both set to star in their school's annual musical this year but the production could not go ahead because of the Covid-19 pandemic
In 'Skies of Blue' the girls urge listeners to look beyond the challenges and worries associated with the Covid-19 lockdown and not to despair as brighter days lie ahead.
Announcing the winners on social media on Friday night last, Damien Dempsey praised the girls for producing a track filled with hope and positivity.
The video has now premiered on the Inspiring You Ireland Facebook page (@Inspiringyouirl ), where the competition organisers appealed to people to share the girls' song.
They also praised the track's accompanying video (shot by local company, Suas Drones ) which features beautiful scenes from Ballina and Enniscrone.
Hope and Aisling were supported in their composition by St Mary's SS music teacher, Ms Regina Deacy, while local musician, Mark O'Donnell of Billow Wood, assisted with accompaniment and recording.
St Mary's SS principal, Mr Robert O'Reilly, congratulated the girls, Ms Deacy and all those who helped in the production and recording of 'Skies of Blue' which he described as a beautiful composition with a powerful message for everyone:
"The sky is not only blue for Aisling and Hope, the sky is also the limit for these two terrific girls," he said.
As part of their prize, the girls will meet Damien Dempsey in Ballina later this year, subject to Covid-19 regulations.
You can view the 'Skies of Blue' video via this link: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=179747327381722
