On Saturday January 19^th, a concert featuring De La Salle College Senior and First Year Choirs and the Laurel Hill Colaiste Girls Choir from Limerick took place at the Sacred Heart Church, The Folly, Waterford City. Over 200 young singers performed popular classics such as The Hallelujah Chorus, The Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves, And So it Goes by Billy Joel, Only You by The Flying Pickets, Africa by Toto, Adiemus by Carl Jenkins, Dreams by Dolores O Riordan and the Cranberries, Close Every Door from Joseph, Something by the Beatles and many more beautiful pieces. It was a night to remember and one could only wonder at the skill, talent, energy and enthusiasm of the young choristers. The combined choirs took on some really challenging music while at the same time making it sound effortless and also attractive for the listener. The big audience loved it and there were several standing ovations.

 One wonders how it was possible to deliver such a big programme to such a high standard given that the choirs only got together on Friday afternoon. Well both choirs have fine reputations and are regular competitors in national choral competitions. In fact, they will compete against one another at the Cork International Choral Festival in April. However, there is also a great willingness on the part of all the singers to put in the long hours of rehearsal necessary for a top class performance. But key to the superb performance and to the enjoyment of the young people is Orla Colgan Ahern who was the conductor of the massed choirs. Orla is a brilliant choir woman who can show the young people how to make the music sound beautiful and who also has the special gift of being able to coax just the right sound from the choir. Indeed, she is one of those very special teachers who never has to raise her voice! She was superb on Saturday evening.

Billy O Brien, a past pupil of DLS, currently studying for a Ph.D in performance in the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin, was a masterful and sensitive   accompanist. Mrs Pamela Harrison did a wonderful job keeping everything flowing.

A special thanks is due to Eileen  Doolan, DP, Shirley Ni Chinneide, Anne O Beirne, Nora Jacob and Liz Power for all their help in feeding the two choirs and generally keeping an eye on things.

It would not have been possible to have had the weekend without the support of the  many teachers and parents who hosted the girls. We owe them a great debt of gratitude.

One of the lovely and really special things about this weekend was the return of all of last years 6^th years who were in the 2018 Choir. Ten of them sang in the concert, while the three who couldn’t manage to sing were in attendance on the night. Brilliant!!

Well done to one and all. This was a night to savour and no doubt the lovely memories of a wonderful weekend will stay with us for a long time to come.

It’s that time of year for Junk Kouture mania to set in ..with a record amount of groups entering we have our recycling fingers and toes crossed for all our teams..roll on to the semifinals in Limerick this March ….

On Wednesday 5th Dec, the Student Council held a cake sale in the Study Hall at break time. They also organised a raffle for students and staff. While the students were busy buying cakes at the sale, the teachers/staff held a coffee morning in the staffroom, offering donations. There was a great vibe in the air, lots of fun was had and all enjoyed delicious cakes and bakes.

All proceeds went to Solas, the local cancer support centre in Waterford. The event was a great success! €946.65 was raised and all enjoyed the event.

‘We, the Student council, would like to thank everyone who participated, contributed and helped out in any way. Within the school community, a special thank you to Ms. Harte and her students, Ms. Drohan and her students, to the ladies in the school dining hall, and to the parents who baked for us. We would not have raised anything near this amount without your generosity.

We would also like to thank the local bakeries and outlets who supported us, and , in particular, Supervalu, Kilbarry. We really appreciate the goodwill, the community spirit and the support shown to us, within the school and outside, in the local community.

De La Salle College Waterford is on its journey to becoming a Plastic Free School by 2020 with our new filtered Water Fountain.
We are proud to be doing our part for the environment, helping to turn the tide on the planets plastic crisis. We would like to remind all members of staff and students not to bring plastic bottles and cups onto the campus unless they are reusable.
If you don’t have a reusable bottle TY’s will be selling them all day Thursday & Friday in the canteen.
Join in on the plastic free movement and do your part for the environment.

Matthew Quinlan (2EN) has been selected as part of the 15-person Irish ‘Saints’ Ice Hockey team to represent Ireland in December at the EMFInternational Tournament Slovakia 2018.  Matthew will compete in 6 games over three days against other countries. This selection is made up of players from Cork Wolfpack, Dublin Ducks and Kilkenny Storm Ice Hockey teams.

Matthew started playing inline and ice hockey with Kilkenny Storm in 2013 and has previously travelled with the ‘Saints’ to Boston, Toronto, Barcelona and Coventry.  As you can imagine, training in Ireland is difficult without an ice-rink and so Matthew and his team mates have often travelled to Belfast for training.  Thankfully, when the ‘pop-up’ ice rinks arrive across the country, training and games can take place on these, normally at 7am!

Cumann Haca Oighir na hEireann, or the Irish Ice Hockey Association (IIHA) was founded in 1996 and is a member of the International Ice Hockey Federation, Olympic Council of Ireland and Sport Ireland.  In 2014, the IIHA decided to invest in a youth programme, the Irish ‘Saints’ which resulted in an exponential growth in skill levels within a very short timeframe.  Some players have spent their transition year abroad in Poland and Canada playing hockey and attending school. Hopefully, Ireland will have an ice hockey team compete in the Winter Olympics in the future!

Sr Colleen met with 2^nd year students on Friday December 7^th as part of their Religious Programme.

Included in photo are Aidan Burke, Ben Hanlon, Sr Colleeen, Tommy Phelan and Jack De Courcey