WATCH: Limerick school celebrates its 43 nationalities on International Day

COLÁISTE Mhichíl at CBS Sexton Street in Limerick city was a sea of colour and culture this Wednesday for International Day.

The annual event offers a students at the school a chance to showcase their nationalities through food, clothing, dance and music. 

“It's absolutely massive for the students, for the staff and the parents, the amount of work that goes in. Mr (Henry) Long and all the teachers have been working so hard on this for the last while. And you can see the students, they're so proud to represent their own countries, their own cultures,” Principal Denis O’Connor said. 

A total of 43 nationalities were showcased with a delicious array of fragrant food, colourful outfits from each of the student's  respective countries and posters to highlight some key facts such as the flag, population, currency and more.

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The event also gives a clear insight into what life in Irish schools is now like with Mr O’Connor explaining a term they use: ‘New Irish’.

“When you see what's going on in the country and in Britain at the moment, there's a lot of anti-foreigner, anti-immigrant chat. I think when you come into an event like this and you see this (International Day), it tells you what this school is about and what this community in Limerick is about.

“It's just a brilliant atmosphere and guys will be talking about this for weeks to come and it probably is the event of the year for us inside the school. So many cultures and so much pride in that and that's what this is about. When the guys come in here, we're all one, we're all students in CBS,” he told Limerick Live. 

Teacher Henry Long, co-ordinator and organiser of the International Day event, added: "What happens is we just take a day to celebrate our diversity.” 

Hundreds of students came in during the day to sample the delicacies such as dishes from Afghanistan, India, Zimbabwe, Poland, Ukraine and Ireland. 

“What happens is the boys make their own posters, they're bringing their own food, they're bringing things from their culture. If they have a national dress, they wear it, it's for everyone to go around and sample the food and talk to the different people and to see other countries, where they are from and what they're like,” Mr Long added.