Drogheda girls win in NY 'mock trials'

A GROUP of students from a girls’ secondary school in Louth, have won a prestigious “mock trial” international competition in New York.

Ten fifth-year students from Our Lady’s College in Greenhills, Drogheda, beat 18 other schools at the Mock Trial Association Empire City Invitational.

As transition-year students last year, the girls won the all-Ireland mock trials competition in May, which took place in the Four Court.

The schools taking part in the Empire City Invitational were from across the United States, the UK and South Africa.

The Irish students defeated New Jersey state champion Mainland Regional High School, having defeated four other schools on the way to the final.

Assistant tournament director David John Hommel praised the girls’ “incredible talent” and said they were the “heart and soul” of this year’s competition.

Greenhills student Aoife Downes said she and two other students who were attornies in the mock trial hope to go on to study law when they finish school.

“We’re absolutely delighted. We weren’t really expecting to win.

“We didn’t know what the standard would be like and it was really tough. We were up against really good teams.”

Greenhills principal Pádraig O’Broin said mock trials, where students grapple with the rigours of the justice system, are excellent ways of teaching children to think on their feet and to apply the knowledge they have learned.

“It will be a great boost to their confidence, and an example of what hard work and long hours of practice could do,” he said.