On Monday the 22nd of May 2023, St. Ursula’s Primary School had a wonderful visit from Irish Olympic athlete Phil Healy. She came into our school on behalf of the Dare to Believe programme which Ms O’ Shea’s 6th class have been learning about for the past few months. The Dare to Believe primary school programme brings the Olympics to the classroom and inspires students to Dare to Believe in themselves. Phil Healy is an Irish athlete competing in sprinting events. She holds the 100m Irish Record. She competed in the 2020 Olympic Games in the 200m, 400m and mixed relay. It was the first time an Irish Olympic track and field athlete had ever competed in three events.
Phil’s visit to the school began with Senior Assembly on Monday morning. She watched Ms Dillon’s 5th class perform their fantastic assembly with their topic being sports. She talked to the girls about her story and being an athlete and achieving 8th in the Olympic games. She said ‘’Even though I came 8th it was still a big achievement for me’’. During the assembly Phil congratulated the girls from the camogie squad, the girls who participate in athletics and other girls who had fantastic athletic achievements. She met with Sheila and Charlotte who were part of the Ferrybank U12 team who set a new Irish record in the Indoor Relay this year. The girls from Ms O’Shea’s class asked Phil questions about her life journey and the answers inspired everyone.
When the assembly ended Phil Healy came down to Ms O’ Shea’s 6th class and talked about her journey to the Olympics and her training. Even though Phil had a couple of mishaps on the way she kept on going and believing in herself. Phil gave Ms O’Shea’s class a signed autograph each and brought the girls outside to do some stretches and relays with batons. She left everyone with a smile on her face and gave Ms O’Shea’s class no homework.
Written by, Ellie Maher, Keeva Mulholland and Leona Solomon from Ms O’ Shea’s 6th class.