Jim Power, Minister Jim Daly TD, Minister Regina Doherty TD, Sarah Fitzgerald, Cillian Fitzgerald and Cormac Fitzgerald at Government Buildings. Photo: John Allen
Sarah Fitzgerald, aged 14 from Kinsale, met with Government leaders at Leinster House and submitted a literacy research paper to the Oireachtas. Her award-winning research may help to buck the current trend amongst teens who are reading less and allocating more time to devices and mobile phones, which could help create some balance. She appeared in the RTÉ Late Late Toy Show in December 2017 as a book reviewer where she was invited to leading London publishing house Walker Books.
Hi Gang – Let’s get reading campaign is encouraging kids to spend less time on phones and devices and read books, which has many advantages, such as creative cognitive thinking. Her proposals include an innovative book cloud-trust programme, which has got the interest of Government. She has received messages from leading authors, actors such as Sally Hawkins and academics from all over the world and a number of key events and engagements happening this Autumn.
The detailed 50-page submission was very well received by leading Government Ministers such as Jim Daly TD, Regina Doherty TD, Margaret Murphy O’Mahony TD, Senator Tim Lombard, Senator Gerard Craughwell, An Tánaiste Simon Coveney TD, as well as An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar.
