Carlow primary to face three other schools in Leinster Final of Ireland's Fittest School 2026

A Carlow primary school is gearing up to tackle two other schools in the Leinster Final of the Fyffes Ireland's Fittest School 2026 competition. 

Scoil Mhuire gan Smál is one of four primary schools to have qualified for the live final.

Supported by fruit importer Fyffes and tracked online, the purpose of the competition is to promote the importance of exercise, fitness, and healthy eating amongst young people.

The Leinster final will take place at SCD Leisure Tallaght in mid-May, after which the top school from each of the Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster provincial finals will then progress to the grand final in Athlone on May 20th.

Hosted by one of Ireland’s best-known Olympians – sprinter David Gillick – the prize package will include €8,000 worth of sports equipment and the title of Ireland’s Fittest School 2026.

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The three other schools taking part in the Leinster final will be Wicklow’s Aughrim National School, Dublin’s Harold’s Cross National School, and St. Helen's Junior National School, Portmarnock.

The competition was set up five years ago, with a key feature being a series of exercise routines which competing schools can adopt as part of their PE curriculum and against which performance can be measured. 

Previous competition winners were Scoil Na Croise Naofa, Dunfanaghy, Co Donegal (2022) and Gilson National School, Oldcastle, Co Meath (2023) and St Mary’s Touraneena National School, Co Waterford (2024).