Trim girl’s art work for CF Christmas card

Thirteen-year-old Elena Coughlan from Trim was one of the winners in the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland’s recent Christmas art competition for children who have Cystic Fibrosis. The winners of the children’s art competition entitled '65 Roses & Christmas’ were announced at the Cystic Fibrosis Association of Ireland headquarters, by the current Rose of Tralee, Clare Kambamettu. Young Children with Cystic Fibrosis throughout the world sometimes say '65 Roses’ because of the challenge of pronouncing 'Cystic Fibrosis’ at a young age. The '65 Roses’ theme of the art competition captured the imagination of children and teenagers with Cystic Fibrosis all over Ireland, resulting in a difficult task for the judging panel who had tough decisions to make when deciding who would be the eventual winners. Finally, ten designs were chosen and the children were delighted to learn that each design has been made into an individual Christmas card which can be purchased online at www.cfireland.ie or by contacting (01) 493 2433. The overall winner was Aoife O’Donnell aged 10 from Dublin who presented the Rose of Tralee, Clare Kambamettu, with a giant version of her Christmas card, sweetly depicting two reindeer, one presenting the other with their '65th’ rose. CEO of the CFAI, Philip Watt praised the efforts of all children involved. He said: “We had some very good news this week when the contract for the new CF Unit in St Vincent’s University Hospital was signed. However, much more needs to be done and CFAI must raise €4.1m for vital CF services over the next two years. “Anyone who buys a Christmas Card from CFAI will be contributing towards a better CF services for those who have CF,” he added.