An art project designed to send a message of hope from Ireland's primary schools to people suffering all over the world has been selected to go on display in the public lobby of United Nations headquarters in New York.
Stretching 30 metres in length and over five metres high,
Smile to the World
by Irish artist Brian Cumiskey depicts a giant rainbow composed of some 2,000 individual children's paintings.
Selected from over 130,000 entrants the paintings are designed to be individual messages of hope and joy for people who are suffering.
Together they form a gigantic photomontage banner which co-founder Kevin Farrell said is intended to send "a message of hope in troubled times". He told ireland.com he was "thrilled" with the news.
The 'Smile to the World' project was jointly funded by the Department of Education in the Republic and Northern Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Dublin City Council.
It was launched in Dublin in 2001 by Nobel Peace Prize winner and former SDLP leader Mr John Hume following a reception with President Mary McAleese in Aras an Uachtarain.
The official unveiling will take place on June 12th and will coincide with a parallel exhibition of the Smile to the World in Longford Town.
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