Mitchelstown Student Ciara Walsh Wins Silver in Healthy Home Chef 2025 as Finalists Cook-up a storm at the ATU St Angelas Campus

 Cork Student Wins Silver in Healthy Home Chef 2025 as Finalists Cook-up a storm at the ATU St Angelas Campus

Dr Eileen Kelly Blakeney, Lecturer School of Home Economics, ATU St Angelas, Derek Gallagher, Head of Dunnes Stores Simply Better brand, Teacher Colaiste Fionnchua, Chef Neven Maguire, Senior Silver Winner 2025 Ciara Walsh, Colaiste Fionnchua, Cork, Dr Amanda McCloat, Head of ATU St Angelas, Dr Helen Maguire, Head of School of Home Economics, ATU St Angelas, Dr Elaine Mooney, Director of National Centre of Excellence for Home Economics, ATU St Angelas

The food labs at ATU St Angelas Campus, Sligo were heating up recently with the All-Island Finals of the prestigious Healthy Home Chef Cookery Competition taking place recently.

Sponsored by Dunnes Stores, MacNean House and the National Centre of Excellence for Home Economics at St. Angela’s, the competition was open to junior and senior secondary school students, Youthreach centres and special schools across the island of Ireland.

The finalists in each category battled it out across two days creating a tasty, nutritious, and affordable meal to win a prize fund of over €10,000 worth of vouchers and equipment for themselves and their schools.

Hundreds of students from across the island of Ireland submitted their culinary ideas with 32 selected as finalists in both junior and senior categories who were invited to ATU St Angelas Campus to recreate their dishes before a panel of judges including award winning chef and TV presenter, Neven Maguire.

Derek Gallagher, Head of the Simply Better brand in Dunnes Stores said “We are delighted to sponsor the Healthy Home Chef competition again this year with the support of our Simply Better brand ambassador Neven Maguire. It has been fantastic to see the inspiring dishes the students have created using Dunnes Stores products”.

Dr Amanda McCloat, Head of ATU St Angelas, noted “this competition showcases the very best of Home Economics education, where students had to display their healthy home food skills whilst promoting the importance of healthy eating”.

And it was no easy job to select the winners as Chef Neven Maguire describes “these students show a real gift in what they do, their knowledge and skills shines through their love of cooking and it’s a real pleasure to be a part of the experience”.

 

Chef Neven Maguire, Katie Keogh, Senior Gold Winner 2025, Mungret Community College, Limerick,  Derek Gallagher, Head of Dunnes Stores Simply Better brand

The winners were announced as follows:

· Senior Gold winner: Katie Keogh, Mungret Community College, Limerick

· Senior Silver Winner 2025 Ciara Walsh, Colaiste Fionnchua, Cork

· Senior Bronze Winner 2025 Molly Carr, Presentation Sec. School, Tipperary

 

· Junior Gold Winner 2025, Heath Moore, St. Louis High School, Dublin 6

· Junior Silver Winner 2025 Ilia McArdle, Our Lady's Sec. School, Monaghan

· Junior Bronze Winner 2025, Aoibheann O'Malley, Holy Faith Secondary School, Dublin 3