Young voices, big stories: Primary school podcast spotlights Jarlath Burns

Gareth Burns, President of the GAA, speaking with pupils at St. Ninnidh's PS, Derrylin. (Image: John McVitty)
While major media outlets across Northern Ireland were eager to secure an interview with GAA President Jarlath Burns about the £50million redevelopment of Casement Park, he chose instead to give a very important interview to an up-and-coming podcast based in Derrylin.
The St. Ninnidh's PS P7 class, assisted by their teacher, Cassie Cadden, has set up a podcast known as 'Derrylin Diaries' on Facebook and TikTok, which has amassed thousands of views online.
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Miss Cadden spoke to The Impartial Reporter about how the podcast was created and the exciting opportunity it presented for the students of St. Ninnidh's PS to interview Mr. Burns on Wednesday, June 11.
'I don't think we ever anticipated it [the podcast] getting this big, but it is the power of persuasive writing and letters," Miss Cadden explained.
She encourages project-based learning in her P7 classes, providing pupils with essential life skills and engaging opportunities to apply what they've learned, all while following the annual curriculum and balancing preparation for the secondary school transfer test.
'I try to do fun, project-based activities with the children, and I wanted to do something that is relevant to right now," she explained.
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In previous years, Miss Cadden introduced a Junior Entrepreneur Programme, where pupils created a business and developed a product to go along with it.
'We started the Podcast Club [Derrylin Diaries], so children who were interested in podcasting or interviewing could come to it; generally, all my Primary Seven class came."
Through deliberation and voting, the pupils decided on 17 guests they wanted to interview on their podcast, and then wrote letters to each of their selected guests.
'The best thing about the podcast is the opportunities they [the pupils] are getting for their literacy, because they are writing, editing, redrafting and chatting among each other about their writing.
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'The most important thing is they are growing their confidence," Miss Cadden added.
'We taught them persuasive techniques to try and encourage these people to come to our podcast.
"We didn't think we would get any replies," she said, but added that she and the pupils were delighted by the positive response they received.
Over the past few weeks, the pupils have received letters from many of their chosen recipients.
Miss Cadden said: 'We got a reply from the First Minister, who said she would do it."
Unfortunately, First Minister Michelle O'Neill was unable to attend the podcast due to several scheduling conflicts; however, she has been booked for September.
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The first guest the pupils interviewed was Malachy O'Rourke, the current Senior football manager for Tyrone GAA, and a former pupil of St. Ninnidh's PS.
Their second guest was Jarlath Burns, whose involvement Miss Cadden described as "unbelievable", adding: "It was like a rockstar arriving at school!"
The podcast has been very well received. Miss Cadden revealed: "It's been going viral on Facebook and TikTok.
"We have thousands of views, and people are tuning in and asking us when our next podcast episode is out.
'We are hoping to make it a regular thing. It's brewing excitement throughout the whole school," she added.
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The next featured guests on the Derrylin Diaries podcast will be Roisin Gleeson, a Fermanagh ladies' player, and Gareth Maguire, of 'The Tumbling Paddies'.
If you are interested in watching the next episode, see the St. Ninnidh's PS Facebook page at https://tinyurl.com/ninnidh.

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