Well-known Irish Olympian, sprinter David Gillick has teamed up with Fyffes once again in a quest to find ‘Ireland’s Fittest School 2026’.
Now in its fifth year, the purpose of the competition is to promote the importance of exercise, fitness and healthy eating amongst young people. A core feature of the programme will be a series of fun and accessible exercise routines – recorded by Gillick, alongside Irish fitness trainer, Sharon Flanagan – which competing schools can adopt as part of their PE curriculum and against which performance will be measured and tracked online.
Building on the success of previous years – and running for eight weeks from January 26th – the 2026 competition will then see the top four schools from each province compete head-to-head across four live regional qualifier events in April. The top school from Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster will then progress to May’s grand final, hosted by patrons Gillick and Flanagan, at which the prize package will include €8,000 worth of sports equipment.
The former athlete and popular broadcaster’s aim is to find a school whose focus on fitness will replicate the success of previous ‘Ireland’s Fittest School’ winners – Donegal’s Scoil Na Croise Naofa, Dunfanaghy (2022); Meath’s Gilson National School, Oldcastle (2023); Waterford’s Touraneena National School (2024) and Cork’s Ballyhass National School (2025).
Speaking at the launch, Fyffes head of marketing, Emma Hunt-Duffy said: “Amongst schools nationwide, the level of interest in this competition continues to grow each year. We look forward to seeing more and more teachers and young pupils incorporating the exercise routines into their PE classes, as a fun and easy way to stay active and keep fit.”
School registrations are now open and further details can be found online at www.fyffesfittestschool.ie
