County Roscommon student shines on Spanish stage
Elphin Community College student Lucía represented both Ireland and ECC with distinction at Zientzia Astea, the Basque Country’s prestigious annual science festival, now celebrating its 25th year.
A County Roscommon student recently represented both Ireland and her school with distinction at Zientzia Astea, a prestigious annual Spanish science festival, now celebrating its 25th year.
Centred on the theme “Science for a Plastic-Free Planet”, this year’s festival brought together innovators, designers and young creators from across Europe. As Ireland’s global finalist in the Junk Kouture World Competition, Lucía Revuelta González from Elphin Community College was invited to deliver a lecture at the iconic Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao, a landmark building designed by renowned architect Álvaro Siza.
Her striking Junk Kouture design was exhibited, attracting such excitement from visitors that it was added to the official guided tour route.
During her talk, Lucía spoke passionately about her creative process, her Junk Kouture journey, and the extraordinary support she has received at Elphin Community College — particularly the guidance of Ms Bernadette Prendergast, whose mentorship has played a significant role in her success.
Lucia won her place in this year’s Junk Kouture World Final after her eco-friendly creation impressed the judges at the national final in Dublin.
Junk Kouture is an international competition which promotes sustainable fashion by encouraging post-primary school students to design, create and model unique outfits using recycled materials.
After successfully coming through a regional final in March, Lucia was among 60 national finalists who gathered at The Helix in Dublin earlier this year to battle it out for the ten Irish places on offer at the 2025 Junk Kouture World Final.
Her winning design, ‘Miss Mares, was aimed at highlighting the beauty of the ocean while also raising awareness of the impact of pollution on marine life. Her creation was made from aluminium cans, sardine tins and foil.
Lucia, originally from Bilbao in Spain, came to the Elphin school as an exchange student, but returned again for Transition Year as she was keen to participate in the Junk Kouture competition.
