Katie Dunne from Transition Year will be one of the two local students who will represent the Athlone area in the regional final of the Soroptimist International Girls Public Speaking Competition in Ballinasloe on the 5th February. The President of the Athlone Soroptimist Club praised the high standard of the local heat, held here in the Bower on the 25th January as students from the local schools  competed for the two places in the final. They spoke on topics covering education, the status of women, health and the EU. Rachel Maher from fifth year narrowly missed out on a place in the final.