Junk Kouture finalists spreading message of positive outlook
When Castlepollard Community College’s team qualified for the Grand Final of Junk Kouture on March 5 last year, Covid-19 hadn’t yet turned the world as we knew it upside down.
Team-mates Jack Scally, David Tulgara and Robert Kennedy were scheduled to travel to Dublin for the national final in the 3 Arena on April 30, but like most events last spring it was postponed when the country went into its first lockdown.
Fast forward the best part of a year and the finals are now taking place this Thursday, February 4. However, the current lockdown has denied the Castlepollard team and their fellow finalists their big day out in Dublin.
Instead, the event will be televised live on RTÉ 2 at 7pm and viewers will have the chance to vote for their favourite designs on the night.
The Castlepollard entry, Darkness into Light, is sure to strike a chord with many viewers, particularly after the events of the last year.
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, Jack, who with David and Robert, are students in the school’s ASD unit, explained that David’s design was “inspired by warriors past and present, warriors battling everyday life”.
The outer cloak “represents the heaviness of depression”, while the inner armour style design, which was created from recycled butchers mesh, rivets, bicycle chains, curtain hooks and key chains, represents the inner strength that exists inside each of us, our “life and light”. The entry was first modelled by Sian McLaverty, who has since left the school for college. Halle Cahill has subsequently taken over the modelling duties.
It took the three team-mates, who were supported by teacher Sharon Carberry and their SNAs Tracey Cullen and Marie Mulvey, more than six months to complete their intricate design.
The outer cloak is covered in rubber leaves made using old tyres from Mileage Tyres in Mullingar, in line with the competition’s ethos of promoting creativity and sustainability. Each leaf, which gives the cloak its weight, was cut out and hand painted.
Completing the project was hard work, but Jack says that it quickly turned into a labour of love for him and his team-mates.
“It was brilliant and really fun to do. Working with the materials was so soothing. Ms Carberry and Tracey and Marie were such a big help. Everything seemed to fall into place the right way. Robert and David were fantastic to work with. They are such a great bunch of lads.”
Speaking to the Westmeath Examiner, teacher Sharon Carberry said that Jack, Robert and David have worked extremely hard on their design and are great ambassadors for the school.
“This is our first time entering the Junk Kouture competition and to be chosen as regional finalists was so exciting. We are so proud of them and we cannot wait to show everyone our design.”
While they won’t be able to meet up in person, Leaving Certificate students Jack, Robert and David are going on Zoom to watch the event online together.
Asked how he was coping being separated from his friends during the pandemic, Jack words showed that positive thinking is something that he practises as well as preaches.
“There is a light at the end of this tunnel, I can see a light, I am not holding my head in despair. There is light at the end of the tunnel and we can fight this together.”