Funeral Services Northern Ireland Announces Winners of 2nd Annual National Poetry Competition

Funeral Services Northern Ireland has acknowledged poets from across Northern Ireland at a reception in Parliament Buildings, Stormont, where the second annual Funeral Services Northern IrelandNational Poetry Competition winner was announced.

BBC broadcaster Marie-Louise Muir introduced proceedings and named regional finalists before Ross Thompson from Bangor, Co Down, took the title with his poem ‘Icarus’. Described by the judges as complex, eerie, interesting, strange and a poem which demonstrated the power and strength of language as an outlet, they also commented that one line which worked extremely well actually ‘exploded’ in the middle of the poem.

As well as receiving the overall prize of £500 cash, Ross was also awarded £50 for being named the Co Down regional winner with the other regional winners.

Co Antrim’s regional winner Eamon Cunningham from Dunmurry also won the Co Antrim regional heat in the inaugural Funeral Services Northern Ireland National Poetry competition last year. The judges said that the former St Malachys teacher’s poem ‘After Daybreak’ started off in a strong manner and they could see immediately where it was going. There was good sound pattern in it and it was about the real world but had a Heaney feel to it.

Kate Catney from Lurgan was named Co Armagh winner with a beautifully simple and direct poem. ‘A Childs Perspective’ was heart rending said the judges, and they loved the use of words.

Taking the regional title for Co Fermanagh, Enniskillen woman Mary McElroy’s poem ‘Blue’ was neatly constructed and memorable. The judges found it affecting, simple but with clever analogies that stick in the mind. They commented that the first and second lines were ‘fantastic’.

Co Londonderry’s winning entry from Kevin Kiely is entitled ‘Swimming on Sunny Day’. The judges said it had a good sparky start. It provided a real sense of place and smell, evoking strong feelings and had an apparent use of language. A great spin on words!

‘Palm Sunday’ was the winning Belfast entry from west Belfast man Michael Conaghan. The judges commented that it had a sense of journey and movement with very strong personal poetic voice. They loved that the writer chose the word ‘dandled’ and felt it provided a real sense of place and smell.

In keeping with National Poetry Day 2013 theme of ‘water water everywhere’ the winning poems were that of reflection, contemplation and water. The theme gave the entrants an opportunity to reflect on life and death through poetic word.

Beverley Brown, general manager at Funeral Services Northern Ireland, which operates 19 funeral homes across Northern Ireland, said: “We were inspired by the quality of the entries we received. Up 42% on last year’s entries, the judges certainly had a difficult task in appointing the regional and overall winners. As caring is at the heart of all that we do at Funeral Services Northern Ireland we see this competition as an opportunity for people to express their grief in a positive and thought provoking way during what can be a very difficult time. Many entrants chose to submit poetry that honoured those they cared about.”

Judges of the national poetry competition were Beverley Brown, general manager Funeral Services Northern Ireland; Heather Carr, Business Development Manager at Arts and Business NI; Ciaran Carson, Director of the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry, Queen’s University; and broadcaster Mary-Louise Muir.

To read the winning entries, log onto www.fsni-nationalpoetrycomp.co.uk. Funeral Services Northern has 19 funeral homes across Northern Ireland.