On the Town/Catherine Foley: Sandra George (8) posed with her painting of half a green pepper floating in a green mist. Her proud parents, Emmanuel and Abiodun George, who came from southern Nigeria to live here five years ago, looked on, delighted that their daughter, a student at St Kilian's Junior School in Castleview, Dublin 24, had won second prize in her age category at the 49th Texaco Children's Art Competition.
The Minister for Arts, John O'Donoghue, and Pat O'Shaughnessy, chairman of Texaco (Ireland) posed with each young child for their official photograph, which will be sent to them in the coming weeks.
The line of children who queued to receive the certificate, award and paint box, snaked down the ballroom in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin. In total 161 students, aged four to 18, were presented with prizes.
"There's a huge age range and very different approaches," said Declan McGonagle, chair of the judging panel and director of Dublin City Arts Centre. "The younger ones are much freer than the older ones. They are more open and very experimental in their approach but just as deliberate in their objectives as the older ones."
The panel received entries from more than 2,200 students at primary and second-level schools throughout Ireland, North and South.
Marie-Louise O'Donnell, artistic programmer of The Space in the Helix, was impressed by "the multicultural aspect" of the entrants.
"The ethnicity, the diversity of the children who have come here from China, Africa, the UK and are availing of our national school system, it's brilliant," she said.
The winners will be on view in the Helix Gallery until early summer, she added.
"Art is a uniting force," added Patrick McDermott, chief executive of DCU's Education Trust, who was also present at the gala ceremony.
Broadcaster Ian Dempsey kept everyone on their toes, as he announced the winners and special merit recepients.
One special merit winner, Radwan Mohamed (6), a pupil at the Muslim National School in Clonskeagh, Dublin 14, cut a dash in his elegant jacket when he went up to collect his prize.
Another was John Macken (12), from St Senan's National School in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, who was there with his mother, Tríona Macken, and his sister, Holly Macken (16), to pick up first prize for his painting of a squirrel in his age category.
Eoin Kenny (16) was another Wexford winner. Along with first prize for his painting of Courtown Woods, in the 14 to 15 years category, the Gorey Community School student was also the overall winner of the competition and recipient of the £1,000 (€1,397) UTV/Texaco Young Artist Commission. Once his commissioned work is ready, it will be added to the UTV Art Collection, which features work by artists Gerard Dillon, George Campbell and Basil Blackshaw.
As to his plan to become an artist when he leaves school, Kenny shook his head shyly. "It's more of a hobby," he said. But maybe as he gets older he'll change his mind.