Page 26 - Bellfort Magazine 2025

It is my privilege this afternoon to present the report for the school year 2023– 2024 and to
welcome Mr Luke Marshall as our distinguished guest. Mr Marshall has an incredible career in

sport, in particular rugby… from his early days school boy rugby was a keen interest that led him
on a sporting journey to play No 10 centre with the Ulster Academy and Ulster Rugby retiring just

last year with an impressive 174 caps. In addition, to his pivotal role as centre for Ulster, Luke also

played rugby on the international stage by playing for the under 20 level in the 2011 Six Nations
Championship. But it didn’t stop there… Luke won his first senior international cap in February
2013… starting against Scotland in the Six Nations Championship followed by several starts against

Australia, Argentina, Ireland’s tour of South Africa in 2016, Canada, the USA and Japan bringing his

winning caps for Ireland to a total of 11.

This success was further celebrated by being named as Ulster’s personality of the year for the
2023-24 season in the 2024 Ulster Rugby Awards.

It would be fair to say that Luke has had plenty of trials and tribulations throughout his storied

career and I have no doubt we will hear more about this later.

Since retirement from the turf, Luke has been working hard off the pitch studying for QFA
qualifications and has now entered the world of financial advice!

Mr Marshall… I am confident that what you have to share with our young people this afternoon

will be enlightening, challenging and encouraging.

My sincere welcome to all of you, past and present. I must take this opportunity to welcome
today, past colleagues…. you are most welcome!

Thank you to Jasmin Hayes (Yr12) for the background music, focusing on soft traditional tunes, as

well as the instrumentalists, and the Choir, with Mrs Nevin and Mr Kerr for setting the scene so
well this afternoon… music and performance are a wonderful medium with which to share… they

are the shorthand of emotion… they are literature of the heart… both music and performance
commence where speech ends!

If you would like to hear more from our musicians, come along to the Dunclug Players Production
of, ‘Les Misérables ’ in the first week of December and our Carol Service, God Willing, on Tuesday
17 December at 7.30pm.