Rian is crowned as Ulster spelling bee champion

13 June 2017 - Picture by Darren Kidd /Press Eye.

Pictured is Rian McGeown from St Mary's Primary School in Derrytrasna, Lurgan. Rian was crowned champion speller in the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee Ulster final which took place at the Eason flagship store in Donegall Place, Belfast. Rian competed against 8 other finalists and will now go on to compete in the All-Ireland final in Dublin on June 20th." — 13 June 2017 - Picture by Darren Kidd /Press Eye. Pictured is Rian McGeown from St Mary's Primary School in Derrytrasna, Lurgan. Rian was crowned champion speller in the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee Ulster final which took place at the Eason flagship store in Donegall Place, Belfast. Rian competed against 8 other finalists and will now go on to compete in the All-Ireland final in Dublin on June 20th."

The student from St Mary’s Primary School, Derrytrasna in Lurgan, fought off stiff competition from a number of other spelling enthusiasts and will now move forward to compete in the All-Ireland national Spelling Bee final in Croke Park, Dublin,

Rian came up trumps in the highly anticipated final, held in the Eason Flagship Store, Donegall Place, against contestants from Derry, Down, Cavan, Donegal, Tyrone, Antrim, Fermanagh and Monaghan with his winning word ‘Misjoinder’.

The competition, in partnership with Cool FM and Downtown Radio, is part of an overall Eason literacy and reading initiative that aims to inspire children to develop a greater appreciation of words in a fun and educational way, and to encourage them to perfect their spelling and pronunciation skills.

Rian will be joined by other provincial winners from Munster, Connacht and Leinster to compete for a goodie package full of books worth £500 and the prestigious title of the 2017 Eason Spelling Bee Champion, The All-Ireland winning school will also receive a mountain of books for their library to the value of £6,500.