Tranistion Times: Given high standards and top class content, picking the winners in The Irish TimesSchool Mag Competition is always a tough task.

MONAGHAN HAVE done it again. You may remember that last year's winner of the Irish TimesSchool Mag competition was Coláiste Oiriall with their stunning bi-lingual pink and black masterpiece. No one thought another Gaeilge-Béarla blend would take it this year, especially when the competition was so fierce. At the awards ceremony, a crowd of 130 would-be media types quaffed virgin cocktails and cream-cheese blinis at Dublin's new science museum and celebrated each other's creative talent. They think they're so great. They might be right.

We had the usual deluge of entries from hundreds of schools for this year's competition and we picked the best writing and design from all the magazines we received, as well as picking the best overall magazines from the junior and senior categories. Here is our selection of the best writing and design talent from this year's competition.

Come back next week for more senior talent and a selection of the junior winners.