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A local spelling whizz is on her way to a provincial final after winning the Cork leg of a national spelling bee competition.

Grace O’Gorman from Waterfall is this year’s winner of the County Cork Eason Spelling Bee Final.

Following a tense competition in which she faced 41 fellow spelling aficionados, the Scoil Bhailenóra student’s skills ultimately spelled doom for her competitors. She will now represent Cork in the Provincial Spelling Bee in May. If she wins, she will go head-to-head in the All-Ireland Final Bee, taking place in June.

The All-Ireland winning bee will get a selection of books for their school library valued at €7,500, in addition to the coveted title of Eason Spelling Bee 2024 Champion.

The winner themselves will also receive a goodie bag packed of books worth €500.

Celebrating its 11th year, the Eason Spelling Bee is part of an overall literacy and reading drive to encourage and inspire children to develop their spelling and pronunciation skills.

Group Head of Marketing at Eason, Brendan Corbett, said: “We are thrilled to be kicking off the 2024 Eason Spelling Bee with such accomplished children taking part in Cork – they are a great testament to the talent of the children of Ireland. I am certain that this year we will be successful in building on 2023’s triumph and inspire everyone to support their local schools, and especially, their bees!”