Trócaire/Poetry Ireland National Poetry Competition

Liam is a runner-up in this year’s Trócaire/Poetry Ireland national poetry competition, in the Primary Junior category. There were four children’s categories each with one winner and two runners-up so it is a great achievement. The poem will be published in a book coming out in the winter, and he will appear on a live-streamed virtual award ceremony on Culture Night 18th September reading his poem. Part of Liam’s prize is a school visit from a poet funded by Poetry Ireland. TETNS will qualify for a two and a half hour visit from a poet. We are all delighted for Liam. The PTA previously organised a workshop with Poetry Ireland in 2018/19 and the children found it an enjoyable experience.

He also had a piece published in the Tullamore Annual 2020 entitled The Babysitter with a Katana. Liam’s poem is entitled Too much to ask?
Well done Liam!

Too much to ask?

She wakes up to the sound of her children crying,
They still haven’t eaten after three days,
She’s tired of protesting about something so obvious,
Her family are in danger for simply trying to live a life.

She shouldn’t have to stand her ground to the police,
She just wants to be able to live,
Is it too much to ask?
She doesn’t want to cry any more.

Is it asking to live in some kind of utopia,
To ask for the right to live?
Or to wish for a life of happiness?

Primary School – Junior (3rd/4th Class)
February 2020