Extracts from

and judges' comments on - the junior writing winners . . .

MONEY, MONEY, MONEY

Eugene Egan

Blueprint

Blackrock College, Co Dublin

Due to various financial intrigues going on around the world, I decided to make a survey to find out how much money had been lost between the cushions of your sofa. I gave a questionnaire to 50 households, asking:

1 Please count how much money has been lost between each of your sofas.

2 How many people are in your family?

3 How many sofas do you have?

The numbers were averaged, and the results are as follows:

1 An average of €1.36 was found.

2 There was an average of four people in each house.

3 The average number of sofas was three.

So, if we multiply 1.36 by three, we get 4.08. This means an average of €4.08 was found in the sofas of each house. According to the 2006 census, there are 4,062,235 people in the Republic of Ireland. This can be rounded to 4,062,000. And if you divide this by our average number of people per household, it comes to 1,015,500. So there are, on average, 1,015,500 homes in Ireland, which, when multiplied by 4.08, equals 4,143,240. This means that a whopping €4,143,240 is lying around the country in loose change. Shows how things can add up! So, for all you people who are down on your luck, get rich quick - by sitting on your couch.

'An original and diverting small feature idea, ably assembled with plenty of humour'

HOW THEY GET THE FIG INTO FIG ROLLS - THE TRUTH!

Jack Kelly

Tipp Tipp Hooray

Ardscoil na mBráithre, Clonmel,

Co Tipperary

If, like me, you have been a victim of Jacob's recent advertising campaign, then this is the article for you. The ads portray cartoon children with thick Dublin accents raving about how aliens put the figs into Fig Rolls because they can do it "quicklier".

This, of course, sparked a massive debate between almost everyone, from old people in nursing homes to, well, students who write silly articles for class magazines, as to how they actually get the fig into Fig Rolls.

According to YahooAnswers.com: "They put out a huge long line of dough. Then they put the fig on the dough. After that they put a slightly bigger piece of dough over that. Then they fold the excess dough around the fig filling and after that they cut the excess off. When that is done they cut along the dough and fig tube and that is how they get the fig into the Fig Roll."

Not satisfied by this, I moved on to JacobFruitfield.com, to see what their explanation to this question was. Unfortunately, all that was to be found there were two "interesting" facts which informed me that "three Fig Rolls are consumed every second in Ireland" and that "if you joined all the Fig Rolls purchased in Ireland in one year back to back they would measure the distance to the moon and back twice."

Still eager to get concrete facts instead of mere speculation, I decided to ring the Jacob's factory in Dublin.

The first phone call was treated as a prank call, and the person hung up immediately. I rang back five minutes later, only to be screamed at . . .

Still minus any concrete evidence, I rang back a week later, hoping in vain that someone would take me seriously. I thought for one brief moment that I was in luck when the woman at reception transferred me to the production line, but after at least 10 minutes on hold the receiver was

yet again slammed down when

I explained my situation to the man at the other end of the line. This was to be the final insult.

At this stage I had given up hope of ever answering the million-dollar question. At the end of it all I had to ask myself one final question: had I shed any light whatsoever on how Fig Rolls are made, besides giving some opinionated theories? The answer is a resounding no. One thing is for certain, though: I never want to see a Fig Roll again.

'This is the best example of investigative journalism in the junior category. The subject may be comical, but this reporter was serious about getting his story. By next year he'll be doorstepping his victims. We look forward to the results'

From AN UMPIRE'S CONTROVERSIAL DECISION - EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BARBARA HANON

Sarah Burke

Get Out There

Dunmore Community School, Co Galway

Were you surprised when you were called up to join the senior county team?

I was very shocked. I couldn't believe it when I got the phone call after the All- Ireland Minor Final, which we drew against Cork.

On that semifinal day in Hyde Park, what was the mood like within the Galway team?

Everybody was nervous. You could feel the tension in the dressingroom. We knew it could be our last match of the season.

In the dying moments of the game, when you received that crucial pass, a huge amount of pressure was on you. How did you concentrate on what you had to do?

I don't think I really thought of the pressure. I just knew I had to get a score, so I kicked the ball and hoped for the best.

Galway and Armagh supporters knew you had scored that vital point. When the umpire signalled it wide, what thoughts were going through your head?

I thought he signalled it over, so when I realised he hadn't I was furious. I knew it had gone over; so did the girls. As we were trying to argue it, Armagh got their score. I was so disappointed and upset.

Shortly afterwards the game concluded, and video evidence proved that you scored that point. Did you feel let down by the match officials who on an All-Ireland semifinal day, of all days, should be up to scratch?

Yes. We were all shown the video on the TG4 van. We were so annoyed with both the officials and referee. We couldn't understand how they could have got it so wrong at such a crucial moment.

In a matter of seconds your rightful place in an All-Ireland final was robbed from you. Can you tell us what emotions yourself and your team-mates felt?

We were heartbroken. There wasn't a dry eye in the dressingroom.

When the Galway management decided to appeal the umpire's decision, did you think you would get another chance, possibly in the form of a replay?

Part of me did. I was very hopeful, but the other part of me knew deep down that it was over for this year.

Following the game your name was in the headlines and even on the news. What was that like, coming from the small parish of Dunmore?

It was kind of annoying, actually, because everyone I met was asking me the same question. I just didn't want to hear it.

'An honest Q&A session on an exciting chapter in the year's sporting calendar. Sarah Burke has established a rapport with her subject, resulting in a candid interview'

From ISLAMOPHOBIA

Maria Manning

La Chica

Coláiste An Phiarsaigh, Co Cork

Islamophobia is a neologism defined as the phenomenon of a prejudice against or demonisation of Muslims which manifests itself in general negative attitudes, violence, harassment, discrimination and stereotyping. The term dates back to the late 1980s or early 1990s, although its use has increased since the September 11th attacks.

Kofi Annan, as secretary-general of the United Nations, told a UN conference in 2004: "When the world is compelled to coin a new term to take account of increasingly widespread bigotry, that is a sad and troubling development. Such is the case with Islamophobia."

Anja Rudiger of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia argues that it is no longer acceptable to use skin colour as an attribute to distinguish people and that religion and culture have become the "markers of seemingly 'natural' kinds of differences". She writes that Islam has become "the new 'other' ".

Muslims have become targets of abusive and sometimes violent retaliatory attacks after 9/11. The attacks took the form of verbal abuse; blaming all Muslims for terrorist attacks; women having their hijabs torn

from their heads; male and female Muslims being spat at; children being called "Osama"; and random assaults which left victims hospitalised and, on one occasion, paralysed.

France, a country that has a largely secular history, separating church from state, was accused of Islamophobia when it banned the wearing of conspicuous religious symbols in public schools.

The policy extends to Muslim headscarves, large Christian crosses, Jewish skullcaps and other visible signs of religion, although the display of small religious symbols (such as the Star of David, crosses and Hand of Fatima) is permitted.

Across Europe, people seem to hold disturbingly small-minded views. How long do we have to wait for another Holocaust?

And when it happens, who's going to try to stop it?

'This writer takes a strong line on the issue of racism again Muslin communities. The full article involves a great deal of research, and the writer comes to her stark conclusion only after plenty of legwork. A reasoned and well-worked article on a very important topic'