The Tide Is High

Seán O’Súilleabháin TUES16NOV21

t’s a project that’s will mean pretty much all hands on deck down at Greystones Community College…

And it’s one that the school creative arts coordinator’s Seán O’Súilleabháin is clearly very excited about.

“We applied to the Arts Council back in May to be part of their new Creative Schools projects,” he smiles, “and we were very happy to be selected. It’s something the whole school are getting involved with, and it will all culminate in the Transa na dTonnta Festival in the first week of April 2022…”

Trasna na dTonnta meaning, of course, Over The Waves, this old Irish tune a fitting umbrella title for a diverse range of projects right across Greystones Community College, the aim being to respond both creatively and scientifically to the sea and the Wicklow coast.

“Catherine Costello down in Greystones Library has very kindly gotten involved already,” says Seán, “with an exhibition of marine paintings by our Second Year Art students. These will later form part of our own exhibition night in April.”

JM Synge

Also happening in April of next year will be a production of JM Synge’s play Riders To The Sea, a sea-inspired musical performance by the school’s chamber choir, a sensory room, research projects on the likes of coastal erosion, effects of micro-plastics, seabird migration and coastal clean-ups, as well as talks by special guests such as Niall Hatch from BirdWatch Ireland.

In the meantime, we pulled up a log with Seán O’Súilleabháin to find out more. Naturally, our new Guide dog, Otto, decided to get in on the act…