There are currently over 53,000 children under the age of 15 with disabilities in Ireland and a new competition aims to celebrate their differences.

The Department of Justice and Equality has launched an essay writing competition for primary schools, entitled ‘Someone Like Me'. The aim is to have children celebrate the differences which make them, and their schoolmates, unique.

"This competition is an excellent opportunity for the youngest members of society to have a carefully thought out conversation around disabilities against the backdrop of the classroom. It is so important to drive this agenda from a young age and teach children to respect themselves and how unique they are and also to respect the uniqueness of the people around them," commented the Minister of State for Equality, Aodhan O Riordain.

Essays should be submitted in writing and should be no more than 200 words in length. An audio or video recording of up to five minutes can also be submitted. Each school can submit just one entry. The way of choosing this entry will be left to each school.

Winning students will receive vouchers for arts materials and the overall national winner will receive computer, audio and video equipment for their school. The overall winner will be announced in December.

Rugby analyst and children's author, Brent Pope, said he is ‘delighted' to be one of the judges of the competition.

I am no stranger to feeling different and really believe it is so important that we celebrate our uniqueness, what sets us apart. Writing and expressing ourselves is a terrific way to do this and I am really looking forward to judging the entries from around the country," he said.

The closing date for entries is Friday, October 23. Entries can be emailed to schoolscompetition@insightconsultants.ie or sent by post to Schools Competition, Insight Consultants, Suite 12, The Mall, Beacon Court, Sandyford, Dublin 18 or uploaded to www.primaryschoolscompetition.com by clicking the ‘Submit Entry' tab.