Today (Wednesday 25 October 2023) the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is delighted to host an Awards Ceremony for students from around the country who took part in our competitions throughout the year.
Today we celebrated the winners of the Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data, the Award for Use of Open Data at the Young Economist of the Year, and the John Hooper Statistical Poster Competition. The ceremony is being held in Croke Park today from 12 noon to 1.15pm.
Michael Hearty from Crossmaglen in South Armagh and Luke McKeveney from Warrenpoint in County Down are both 18 and were sixth year students at Abbey Christian Brothers School, Newry, Co. Down when they won the Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition 2023. Their project used an open-source software called the EO browser to gather data from satellites on the increasing rate of methane release from melting permafrost areas in Siberia.
“It feels incredible to have won such a prestigious award from the Central Statistics Office, and it is great to be recognised for all the hard work we did,” they said. Luke is currently studying at the University in Manchester and would like to pursue the field of robotics. Michael would like to be a doctor and is currently studying at University College Cork. They received sterling silver medals and a trophy.
Alexia d'Arcy and Keelin O' Carroll (16) are fifth year students from South Co. Dublin. They won the inaugural Award for the Use of Open Data at the Young Economist of the Year 2023. Their project compared the factors of supply and demand of housing in Ireland. On winning the award, they said: “It was very unexpected as we knew the competition would be of an extremely high standard. So to be recognised and presented with this award when we were competing against so many others was an inspiration to continue to pursue our interests.” They received sterling silver medals and a trophy.
Winners of John Hooper Statistical Poster Competition Students Alana McKinnon (16) and Aisling Vaughan (15) of Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare, won the John Hooper Medal for Statistics for their poster ‘Mobile Phone Coverage and the Topography of North Clare’. They were each presented with a sterling silver medal and share a cash prize of €600. They also won €1,000 for their school.
When asked about their win, Alana and Aisling, now both Transition-year students, said they were surprised and delighted as it was the first time that the school had entered the competition.
Their poster focused on the effect that the topography of North Clare had on mobile phone coverage and looked at the three main mobile providers. “We had a lot of data and statistics to help make sense of it. We found that topography does affect mobile phone coverage in the area,” they said.
Their win at national level meant they were eligible to represent Ireland in the European Statistics Competition, in the Junior Category. Aisling is considering becoming a paediatrician, whilst Alana is interested in film and cinematography.
Áine Kelly and Ella Enright, both 15 and in third year, are also from Mary Immaculate Secondary School. They took second prize in the John Hooper Competition for their poster ‘How Much Plastic is Washed Up On Our Shores?’ They share a cash prize of €350 while their school will receive €650. Áine would love to pursue a career in farming, whilst Ella is interested in Law.
Abigail O'Brien Murray, Erica O'Brien Murray and Olivia O'Shea, sixth year students at Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, came third in the John Hooper competition for their poster on ‘Can We Save the Common Ash?’. They share a cash prize of €200 and won €400 for their school. They went on to represent Ireland in the European Statistics Competition in the Senior Category. Abigail hopes to go into research in the Physics field while Erica is looking to study biochemistry/plant science, while Olivia hopes to go into teaching.
The runners-up of the John Hooper Competition were also honored for their projects. All of today’s winners and runners-up receive a framed certificate to mark their achievements.
Presenting the awards, Director General of the CSO, Pádraig Dalton, praised all those who entered the competitions for thinking about new ways to show how data and statistics can be used to inform our lives.
“Every year we see a very high standard of entries for the CSO Competitions and Awards. Students consistently demonstrate resourcefulness, creativity and original thinking by exploring a vast range of subjects and this year is no exception.
Promoting the understanding and use of statistics is an integral part of the CSO’s Educational Outreach programme which includes the John Hooper Medal, the Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition, and the Award at the Young Economist of the Year.” Mr. Dalton said.
The goal of the CSO’s John Hooper competition is to improve students' abilities to describe, explore, and investigate their environment using statistics. This national competition, now in its thirteenth year, is open to teams of two or three students, aged up to 18 years old.
The competition is named in recognition of Cork man John Hooper, who was the first Director of Statistics for the newly formed Irish State, Saorstát Éireann, in 1923. Until his untimely death in 1930 at the age of just 51, Mr. Hooper shaped the development of official statistics in Ireland. His work led to the development of new statistics (e.g., first Census of Population and Census of Industrial Production in 1926), and the 1926 Statistics Act.
The Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data at the BT Young Scientist Exhibition is now in its ninth year. This competition aims to encourage young people to use open data. Open data is data that can be accessed, used, or shared. Governments, businesses, and individuals can use open data to bring about social, economic, and environmental benefits.
The award is for the most innovative use, or potential use, of CSO data, whether it is in statistical analyses, processes or outputs, a piece of research, a visualisation or a data map, the development of a device, a software application, or the use of CSO data in any other innovative way.
The YEOTY National Awards are organised by the Professional Development Service for Teachers (PDST). The CSO is proud to partner with YEOTY as a sponsor of the Medal for the Best Use of Data. The YEOTY invites students to explore real-life issues by submitting projects on any area of economics, but projects must refer to at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Economic, Social or Environmental goals).
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Editor's Note
For further information or interview requests for any of the winners contact:
Marketing, Graphic Design and Events Manager Aeidín Sheppard on (+353) 85 800 2267
or email: information@cso.ie