Zara books her prize in words and pictures

Zara books her prize in words and pictures

1 January 2013

A BALLYNAHINCH Primary School pupil will have a story about where she lives published in the Northern Ireland Tourist Board’s prestigious MyNI 2012 book.

Zara Campbell’s story and artwork is one of 12 entries selected from 600 submitted to the Belfast Telegraph run competition.

The book is a collection of local stories by people that live, work and enjoy Northern Ireland on a daily basis highlighting the pride, passion and inspiration that Northern Ireland has engendered. Some stories are from famous faces, some are from ordinary, everyday people, others are stories of legends and some focus on the simplicity of everyday life. 

Zara highlights the different tourist attractions she enjoys visiting including Tollymore Forest Park and the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum.  

Eimear Callaghan, from the Northern Ireland Tourist Board, said: “The MyNI publication, which was first produced in 2009 has proven to be very popular. As 2012 was such a special year for everyone in Northern Ireland we decided to add a few more chapters into this book and ask the younger generation for their stories.

“We got a great response from right across Northern Ireland and it was very difficult to select just 12 stories from the entries. The pupils were so enthusiastic and painted Northern Ireland as a wonderful place to live and play. They showed great passion for their local areas and I’m sure some of their stories will encourage people to visit their home towns.”

Jennifer O’Reilly, Belfast Telegraph Newspapers in Education, said: “It is obvious from the quality of the entries for the MyNI project that both teachers and pupils put in a lot of thought and effort into producing such excellent work. The competition, presented in this term’s Newspapers in Education MyNI school project, seems to have inspired the children to take a closer look at where they live, the result being stories and artwork bursting with pride. Well done to them all.”

The winning pupils were invited to a ceremony at the Ulster Museum where they saw their work published for the first time. MyNI will be distributed to all the winning schools. The Belfast Telegraph and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board also have a limited number of keepsake books to giveaway. The first 1500 people to e-mail myni@ni2012.com including your name, address and the reason why you would like to own a copy will receive a free copy of the book.