Meath schools scoop awards at Young Scientist & Technology Awards
Boyne Community School and St Patrick's Classical School have won awards at the 2026 Young Scientist & Technology Awards.
Boyne Community School trio won the award for their project entitled "Emoji Politics" which focused on how the use of informal language affects young people's perceptions of politics.
An Coimisiún Toghcháin, Ireland’s independent electoral commission presented the inaugural Democracy and Elections Award at the Stripe YSTE exhibition to the three man team.
Meanwhile St Patrick's Classical School students Cillian Harten, Sean Lahart and Lucas McNamara claimed victory in the 3rd Intermediate Group (Technology) with their 'Swift Block' project.
Aoibheann Daly, a 4th year student from Mercy Secondary School Mounthawk in Kerry, was named as winner of the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition, with her project “GlioScope: Multi-task Deep Learning and Causal AI for Glioma & Glioblastoma Profiling”.
The winning project “GlioScope” helps doctors improve the treatment of brain cancer. The treatment and prognosis for brain cancer depends on the specific genetic mutations present, but there are currently no good methods for identifying these mutations. Doctors rely on taking samples of brain tissue, which is expensive, slow and carries a high risk of bleeding in the brain. Glioscope allows a doctor to predict what genetic mutation is likely to be present from a simple MRI brain scan, so they can make quicker treatment decisions and reduce risk for the cancer patient.
Professor Catherine Darker, Head Judge for the Health & Wellbeing category: “Brain cancer is a devastating condition for people. GlioScope, developed by a fifteen year-old student, is an extraordinary achievement. Aoibheann has brought together scientific areas of medicine with computer science to improve the chances of early intervention for people with brain cancer. She is a worthy winner of the Stripe Young Scientist & Technologist 2026.”
Art O’Leary, Chief Executive of An Coimisiún Toghcháin stated:
“These three students from Trim who have become the first ever winners of this Elections and Democracy Award - and the many young people like them across the country - are the future custodians of Ireland’s democracy. In their hands lies the strength of our democratic institutions, the level of public trust we enjoy, and the resilience of our shared civic life. Democracy is not a given; it is a living experiment. Like every great experiment celebrated at the Young Scientist Exhibition, it demands curiosity, care and sustained effort if it is to succeed.
“The inaugural Democracy and Elections Award recognises and celebrates the most creative and impactful thinking on democratic engagement, electoral participation, integrity and infrastructure. It reflects our commitment to nurturing innovation and research on elections and democracy at every stage of education, and it builds on the positive momentum created by the introduction of Politics and Society to the curriculum in recent years.
Eileen O’Mara, chief revenue officer at Stripe, said: “It is inspiring to see the incredible depth of talent displayed by all the winners today. Aoibheann has taken a tragic health condition affecting hundreds of Irish families, and applied cutting edge science to move the field forward. It's a stunning piece of work.”
***See More in coverage and photos in Chalk Talk in this Tuesday's paper!