Elena Cernei, this year's winner of the Wicklow girls' public speaking competition, began learning English less than a year and a half ago.

Elena is from Moldova and she and her family moved to Ireland in 1999. She speaks Moldovan, Russian and Romanian. When she enrolled as a second year student in St Kilian's Community School in Bray just 16 months ago, she spoke no English.

"It was hard at first," says Elena, "but when you are surrounded by people who are speaking the language and when you really want to learn, you will learn."

The speech with which Elena won the competition was titled: "Does our society believe that rights bring responsibilities?"

"It was about society accepting responsibility and respecting human rights and respecting the law," she says.

Elena began researching her speech just one week before the competition. Her first point of reference was her Junior Cert civics book, where she found information on the Irish Government, law and even Thomas Jefferson.

"I took my title from the Irish Constitution and I quoted Thomas Jefferson and the UN Declaration on Human Rights. I also mentioned a recent article by Mary Ellen Synon."

Elena did all her research by herself in the Central Library in the Ilac Centre in Dublin. There she had access to the Internet, which she found very useful. "It allowed me to compare research from books and personal experience with the most up-to-date information," she says.

Twenty girls under the age of 18 entered the competition. Elena is 15 years old and says she was "very worried" about standing up and speaking before an audience.

She now goes through to the all-Ireland girls' public speaking finals on January 27th. "I am very nervous about it. I have to shorten my speech down to two minutes and I also have to give a five-minute impromptu speech. At the same time, I am also really looking forward to it."