Giant celebrations for Iman’s win
June 20, 2012 by Grace Franklin · Leave a Comment
Iman Adlain and current Giant Big Rory battle for the 12-year-old's prize winning drawing.
by Alastair Brian
Children from Holy Cross Primary School in Govanhill got a GIANT surprise on Monday 18 June, when present day giant, Big Rory paid them a visit.
Primary pupils from across Scotland had been encouraged to create artworks based on the myth of the creation of the Giant’s Causeway during a fight between legendary giants Finn McCool in Ireland and Benandonner in Scotland.
The competition was sponsored by Tourism Ireland in celebration of the new Giant’s Causeway Visitor Centre in Northern Ireland. More than 400 children entered, and the winning piece was created by 12-year-old Iman Adlain, a Primary 7 pupil at Holy Cross Primary.
The talented winner has been rewarded with a trip to the stunning Giant’s Causeway with his family and was presented with his prize by Big Rory the Giant who stands 9 feet high.
Award-winning Scottish children’s writer Teresa Breslin visited the school alongside Big Rory, and held a storytelling session, recounting the legendary tale of the Giant’s Causeway and the feud between Irish Giant Finn McCool and the Scottish Benandonner which resulted in its creation.
She said: ‘I am delighted to visit Holy Cross Primary School to present Iman with his prize and to join his school mates in celebrating his success. I’m always eager to get involved with projects which encourage children to develop their artistic and reading skills, and I was delighted to witness such a high volume of entries.
‘Schools from all over Scotland produced artwork of an extremely high calibre, and Iman’s representation of Benandonner is very colourful and unique. He’ll now have the opportunity to see this most amazing natural phenomenon when he visits the Giant’s Causeway with his family.’
The £18.5 million Visitor Centre at the Giant’s Causeway is due to open in July 2012 and will use the latest technology to guide tourists around Ireland’s only World Heritage Site. Niall Gibbons, chief executive of Tourism Ireland, said: ‘With the opening of the highly-anticipated Visitor Centre scheduled for next month, there has never been a better time to visit the Giant’s Causeway and we are delighted to invite Iman and his family to experience it first-hand.’
Further information on the Giant’s Causeway and what’s happening in Northern Ireland this year can be found at www.discoverireland.com
