Miss Ireland sources iPad for every special needs assistant in county

Every national school in the county is to receive an ‘upcycled’ iPad for their special needs assistants – thanks to the efforts of Galway’s own Miss Ireland.

Pamela Uba, who is off to Puerto Rico this weekend to compete in the Miss World Competition, has secured funding to purchase almost 250 of the devices as part of an initiative led by Variety Ireland.

Pamela, a model and biochemist at University Hospital Galway, says she approached Galway businessmen, the Comer Brothers, to fund the project after seeing its success in Mayo and Roscommon.

“I approached the Comer Brothers about this campaign to provide iPads for SNAs,” she says.

“My brother [Carlton Ubaezuonu] plays for Galway United and I met them at one of his matches about bring the campaign to Galway – and they were happy to come on board and support it,” she said of the Comers who also sponsor the Galway United team.

As a result, the distribution of the iPads kicked off this week, with Pamela visiting Gort na Léime and Glenamaddy National Schools to deliver the first two tablets.

“Soon after I was crowned Miss Galway, lockdown kicked in and a lot of the schools went online – so the importance of access the technology became very clear.

“Because of my background, I wanted to promote education for kids and to use this opportunity to do that,” explains Pamela.

See full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now – or you can download the online version from www.connachttribune.ie