27th September
Secondary Schools’ Service for Opening of the Academic Year
The annual service of choral evensong for the opening of the academic year takes place at 3pm on Thursday the 27th September 2018 at St Patricks Cathedral, Dublin.
The State will be represented by Ms Mary Mitchell O’Connor, TD, Minister of State, Department of Education and Skills.
The speaker at the service will be Mr Ronnie Daly, a UN Peacekeeping veteran.
The theme of this year’s service will be on peace and reconciliation, given that it is the centenary of the end of World War 1.
At the end of the service each student present will be invited to write a message or prayer on a paper leaf.
These leaves will then be suspended from the ceiling of the nave of the cathedral, along with 30,000 others, to symbolise the 30,000 Irish who gave their lives in World War 1.
The leaves will hang from the nave ceiling for the coming year.