Finn creates a buzz in the bee spelling event

A Mullingar schoolboy is one of the stars of an RTÉ documentary following the journey of a number of competitors in a national spelling bee competition.

Gaelscoil An Choillín student Finn Brady is one of the thousands of students from across Ireland who participated in the Eason Spelling Bee, a competition that tested fifth and sixth class primary school children to find the country’s best speller.

Finn has a love of language and has won a top prize at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre Awards for one of his short stories. Addicted to words, every night he spends half an hour with his mum, Carol randomly opening pages in the dictionary to practise his spelling of long and unusual words.

Directed by Garry Keane, The Bee will be broadcast on RTÉ this Sunday September 7 at 6.30pm. Viewers will get to meet competitors from across the country as they prepare for the biggest test of their young lives.

The result is an inspirational film that captures the next generation of young Irish people and their determination to make their schools and families proud.

They share their love of words and of learning and they share their hopes and dreams for the future. From the county finals to the nerve-wrecking provincial finals on the Tubridy radio show on 2FM, the children experienced tension, panic, disappointment and elation with every word and every syllable spelled as the nation listened with bated breath.