A FIVE-YEAR-OLD home educated student from Donegal has been named the overall winner of Sightsavers Ireland’s 2026 Junior Painter of the Year competition.
Elise O’ Driscoll won top prize for their artwork titled “A Heart that Sees the World”.
Inspired by this year’s theme, ‘Our Vision for the Future’, Elise’s artwork explored themes of equality, healthcare, and poverty. Drawing on ideas from Sightsavers Ireland’s Global Citizenship Education programme and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the piece stood out for its creativity, detail, and powerful message.
The judges described Elise’s artwork as a standout piece that transforms complex themes such as equality, healthcare, and poverty into a clear and heartfelt visual narrative, capturing both innocence and strong social awareness through thoughtful composition and detail.
Now in its 17th year, Junior Painter of the Year invites primary school children of all abilities across Ireland to explore global citizenship, inclusion, and equality through art. The competition encourages young people to think creatively about global issues and the importance of building a more inclusive world for everyone, including people with disabilities.
This year, more than 130 entries were submitted by students across Ireland. Following deliberation by an expert judging panel, 27 winners were selected across six categories. The awards ceremony took place at the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Dublin, where students, teachers, families, and guests gathered to celebrate the creativity and insight shown by the young artists.
This year’s judging panel included James Casserly, Accessible Travel Advocate and Sightsavers Equal World Global Youth Champion, Lydia Gratis, Deaf Activist and Founder and CEO of Saved by the Sign, and Ashleigh Downey, Ecological Artist.
Speaking about the judging process, Lydia Gratis said; “I really enjoyed going through all the artwork, they were so creative and fun. You could tell the children put a lot of thought into their pieces.”
Alongside the overall winner, students were recognised across a range of age categories and special awards celebrating creativity, storytelling and inclusive thinking.
Winner Elise received an iPad while second place winner Séamus received a voucher for an art ecology workshop for his entire class. All shortlisted participants received framed versions of their artwork, as well as commemorative plaques and certificates.
This year’s competition encouraged students to explore the theme ‘Our Vision for the Future’ through the lens of global citizenship, equality, and disability inclusion. Many participants drew inspiration from Sightsavers Ireland’s Put Us in the Picture educational resources, which help primary school students across Ireland learn about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the importance of creating a more inclusive world for people with disabilities. Through Sightsavers Ireland’s Global Citizenship Education programme, supported by Irish Aid, students are encouraged to think critically about global issues and explore how creativity, empathy, and collective action can help drive positive change both locally and globally.
Speaking about the event, Sightsavers Ireland CEO Ciara Smullen said; “Junior Painter of the Year continues to be one of the most inspiring moments in the Sightsavers Ireland calendar. Seeing children across Ireland engage so passionately with themes of disability inclusion, equality, and global citizenship through art gives us great hope for the future. The creativity and care reflected in this year’s entries has been exceptional. Congratulations to all the winners and everyone who took part.”
Junior Painter of the Year forms part of Sightsavers Ireland’s Global Citizenship Education programme, supported by Irish Aid, which works with schools and communities across Ireland to encourage understanding of global justice, equality and disability inclusion.