Creative Tipperary Students To Perform At Junk Kouture Regional Finals

320 Regional Finalists have been announced and 80 creative students from the South are eagerly preparing to take to the University Concert Hall stage in Limerick on March 11^th 2016 for the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture Southern Regional Final.  Hosted by Ed and Fitzy from iRadio, the audience is in for a treat as 80 talented students will showcase their couture creations made from rubbish and recycled materials in a performance accompanied to music.

Junk Kouture entry Rags to Riches. 2. Junk Kouture entry Serendipitea

An amazing fifteen entries from Tipperary have been lucky enough to be chosen as one of the Southern 80 regional finalists. Five of which were from Presentation Secondary School, Clonmel – “Silver Slayer”, “Pearl Blossom”, “Lady In The Tramp”, “Over The Loom” and “Rags To Riches”. All five teams were mentored by their art teachers Mairead Fennell and Claire Murphy. Presentation Secondary School, Thurles’ designs “Beauty of the Bog” and “Wired to the Rainbow” are through to the regional finals with the support of their art teacher Miriam O Sullivan. Two designs from Loreto Secondary School, Clonmel are through to the regional final in the University Concert Hall – “Dragonfly Queen” and “Leaf it be”. These teams were helped along the way by their art teacher Ms. Kirby. Scoil Ruain, Killenaule’s design “Drinkerella” is through to the regional finals, the team were mentored by their art teacher Cian Corcoran. Comeragh College, Carrick-On-Suir’s design “Geometric Girl” is through with the help of their art teacher Siobhan Hegarty. Two designs from St Annes Secondary School, Tipperary have made it to the regional finals – “Once Upon A Twine” and “Groovy Garden Girl”. Both teams were helped along the way by their art teacher Ms Helen Ryan. Patrician Presentation Secondary School, Fethard saw one team through to the regional finals with their design “Connect”. This team were mentored by their art teacher Patricia Looby. Borrisokane Community College’s design “Serendipi-TEA” is through to the regional final with the support of their art teacher Eileen Forde.

The regional finals have a strong judging panel with main judges Tracy Fahey (L.S.A.D Educator), Lorna Mc Gee (Vogue India) and Rob Condon (Stylist) joined by previous winner Katie Brill who has first-hand experience of competing in the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture competition and understands the pressures and challenges of the regional finalists. Louis Walsh and Vogue Williams are set to join the panel for the Grand Final in the 3 Arena on April 14^th for what promises to be a fashion extravaganza.

Speaking about the regional finals, Laura Lynch, Head of Youth Banking at Bank of Ireland said; “The calibre of designs for this year’s competition is incredible. With every entry being uniquely choreographed to music, we are really excited to see the models bring their creations to life on stage at the Regional finals. As Ireland’s leading bank for students we are delighted and proud to sponsor the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture 2016. We wish everyone the best of luck in the next stage of the competition and remind finalists to get innovative about how they gather support through the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture voting app.”

As part of the judging process, the public can get involved by casting a vote for their favourite design through the Bank of Ireland Junk Kouture voting app. Accessed through the BOI Students Facebook page (www.facebook.com/BOIstudents), voting opens for one week before the regional competitions from 9am Monday 22^nd February to 12 midnight Friday 26^thFebruary. Individuals can cast a single vote every 24hours. Votes account for 10% of the final mark and can make a huge difference in such a heated competition.  Bank of Ireland is encouraging students to think innovatively about how they gather support through the voting app with a special Bank of Ireland Award in the mix for the Most Innovative Designer at the National Final in April.

With almost 3,000 students, the competition has seen the greatest number of entries to date, making the judging process the toughest yet. The teams will be competing to earn their place in the Grand finals in the hope of walking away with the top prize of €2,500 for their school, iPad Minis and €500 cash for the team. This year’s contestants could also be in with a chance to win a trip to the Royal Film Premiere in London or even a Scholarship to attend the Limerick School of Art and Design. This year has seen the introduction of two news prizes – “Most Unusual Material Prize” and “CoderDojo Techno/Wearables Prize”.

Tickets are on sale now from www.uch.ie or from the UCH box office.

Good Luck to all teams involved in the Regional finals.