Three students from F4—Shifra, Annabel and Nina —recently took part in the Dúshlán competition, a creative Irish-language challenge organised by Conradh na Gaeilge.
The students successfully completed all 30 challenges within the 50-hour time limit, working together as a team. All tasks and communication were carried out through Irish, with submissions completed via a WhatsApp group set up with the organisers.
Dúshlán is designed to test students’ creativity, teamwork and ability to work under pressure, with an additional emphasis on originality in how challenges are interpreted and completed. The range of tasks was extremely varied and required students to think quickly and creatively throughout the competition.
Shifra described how the group became involved, explaining that she received an email invitation after participating the previous year. The team formed with the goal of successfully completing all challenges within the time limit.
She reflected on the nature of the tasks, noting: “Some examples of the challenges we had to complete include teaching a 6-minute Hyrox class to 20 people, making a rap and performing it, speaking consistently for 4 minutes on the effects of biomass and much, much more.”
Shifra also shared that although the competition was very challenging, it was thoroughly enjoyable, particularly as it required the team to think creatively and find original ways to interpret and complete each task.
The school congratulates Shifra, Annabel and Nina on their excellent effort, teamwork and enthusiastic participation in this demanding and rewarding competition.
