Catherine Representing Down in Miss Earth NI Final

Former Our Lady's Grammar School student, Catherine McCormack a current Queen's University student will represent County Down in the Miss Earth Northern Ireland Final on August 28th at the Seagoe Hotel in Portadown.

This is one of three prestigious, global pageants along with Miss World and Miss Universe and the winner will go on to the International finals held in the Philippines in November.

The Miss Earth pageant differs from the other pageants in that it promotes “beauty for a cause”. Miss Earth is an ambassador for environmental protection who campaigns worldwide to raise awareness.

“This contest encourages the people of Northern Ireland , of all ages to become aware of their environment and make small changes to their lifestyle, in order to create a better environment for all." Said Catherine 

The 20 year old who has just completed her 1st year of a BSC Hons in Psychology has expressed her understanding of the environment we live in and the importance of promoting and raising awareness of the 3 R's - reduce , reuse and recycle, which is the environmental message of Miss Earth. 

At Queen's through different societies and clubs we are encouraged to change our everyday habits and behaviour in order to be conscious of our environmental impact on the world. 

“Growing up in Newry city and later moving to the country, it has made me aware of importance of protecting our wildlife and preserving their natural habitat including campaigning against illegal dumping.

Having recent moved into an environmentally friendly house, Catherine now has an understanding of the benefits of the natural resources our earth has to offer us. From a solely wind powered house Catherine and her family now are taking their step to making use of the natural resources. 

From studying the Irish language throughout her time in Our Lady's, Catherine gained the opportunity to attend the rural areas of the Donegal Gaeltacht. From this she has seen first hand the importance of community work on helping to clean up the environment in order to respond to the stress we are putting on our environment. If we each take one small step, together we can achieve great things.”