Young artist's design to support a Dog Friendly Ireland wins national competition

Today marks the ninth annual Dog Friendly Ireland Day, an initiative by Dogs Trust Ireland, the country’s largest dog welfare charity. To celebrate the day, the charity is delighted to announce Aishling Hayes, aged twelve from Limerick, as the winner of its nationwide design competition celebrating what a truly dog-friendly Ireland means to them. 

Launched in May, as part of the Dog Friendly Ireland Day 2026 campaign, the competition invited children of all ages from across the country to showcase their design skills, as well as a vision of what a more welcoming Ireland might look like for dogs and the people who love them. 

Following an enthusiastic response from young artists nationwide, a shortlist of three designs was chosen before being put to a public vote across the charity’s social media channels and email newsletter. After receiving thousands of votes, Aishling’s design emerged as the winner and is being unveiled today as part of this year’s Dog Friendly Ireland Day celebrations. 

The aim of Dog Friendly Ireland Day is to shine a light on the positive steps businesses, communities, and individuals can take to make life more inclusive for dogs. The adorable design featuring dogs of all shapes and sizes perfectly highlights that a dog-friendly Ireland should be accessible to all dogs, no matter their size or breed, once they are comfortable in public settings and in the care of responsible owners.   

As the winning entry, Aishling’s design was transformed into a limited-edition collection of Dogs Trust t-shirts and tote bags. The exclusive range is available to purchase from the Dogs Trust Ireland online shop from today. All proceeds from the sales will go directly towards the charity’s work to rescue, rehabilitate, rehome and advocate for dogs across Ireland. 

Paulina Padlo, Communications Manager at Dogs Trust Ireland, said: "We were blown away by the creativity, imagination and talent shown by all of the children who entered this year's competition. Choosing just three finalists was incredibly difficult, and we'd like to thank everyone who took the time to submit a design and vote for their favourite artwork. 

"Aishling’s design stood out for the wonderful way it captured what Dog Friendly Ireland Day is all about. We're delighted to be able to bring her artwork to life on our merchandise collection and share it with our supporters." 

For more information about the Dog Friendly Ireland campaign and to shop the limited-edition collection, go to www.DogsTrust.ie/DFI