You are cordially invited to attend the

Ireland Final of the Young Horticulturist of the Year 2018

to be held at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin on
Thursday, March 15th, 2018

Entry is free, and light refreshments are provided courtesy of Bord Bia

Over the past two months, the local heats of the annual Chartered Institute of Horticulture Young Horticulturist of the Year (YHoY) competition have been taking place across the UK and Ireland, with over 2000 young horticulturists from all around both islands taking part.

Within Ireland, over 200 contestants took part in the heats, held throughout February and into March, and the 8 best-performing young horticulturists will compete with each other in the Ireland Final on 15th March in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 11. The event will take place at 1 pm and everyone is welcome. Please RSVP to sandra.austin@mie.ie if you are planning to attend.

This year’s contestants are:

Rachel McElfatrick            CAFRE Greenmount Campus County Antrim
Tiernán Kelly                   CAFRE Greenmount Campus County Antrim
Sam Hoey                       Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
Leo Walsh                       OPW/National Botanic Gardens
Ruta Makaraite                Waterford Institute of Technology/National Botanic Gardens
Thomas Lee                    Waterford Institute of Technology/National Botanic Gardens
Natasha Quirke               Kildalton College, Co. Kilkenny
Ferga Hamilton               Cork Institute of Technology

The winner of Ireland Final will represent the island of Ireland in the YHOY Grand Final which will be held this year at the Harrogate Spring Flower Show, Harrogate, the UK on 28th April 2018. The Grand Final winner will receive an impressive £2500 travel bursary, courtesy of the Percy Thrower Trust.

The Ireland Branch of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture is very grateful for the continued support they get from their sponsor Bord Bia.

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