Fyffes Finds: Meath school is Ireland’s fittest

County Meath’s Gilson National School, in Oldcastle, has been named ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2023’.

The award went to the primary school in recognition of what adjudicators called “a real love for fitness and exercise evident throughout the school,” following its participation in a six-month competition in which schools from all over Ireland, north and south, took part.

Supported by Irish fruit importer Fyffes and tracked online, the purpose of the competition, now in its second year, was to promote the importance of exercise, fitness and healthy eating amongst young people The winner of last year’s inaugural title was North Donegal primary school, Scoil Na Croise Naofa, in Dunfanaghy.

Launched last Autumn, the competition coincided with the resumption, following Covid, of the popular Fyffes Fit Squad children’s fitness programme of live school visits, in which 30,000 students have taken part in face-to-face sessions since its inception.

Fronted by well-known Irish Olympians, athletes Phil Healy and David Gillick, a central feature of Ireland’s Fittest School competition was a series of exercise routines which competing schools could adopt as part of their PE curriculum and against which performance could be measured.

The award to the Oldcastle school will comprise some