The winners of the 59th BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition: Shane O’Connor (left) and Liam Carew, aged 18 and in sixth year in the Abbey School, Tipperary won with their project Assessing the impact of second-level education on key aspects of adolescents’ life and development. (Photo: Chris Bellew/ Fennell Photography)
Four-time All-Ireland winning Limerick hurling manager John Kiely has been well accustomed to many golden moments over the past five years, writes John Barrett.
The school principal enjoyed another major achievement when two of his students at the Abbey in Tipperary Town, Liam Carew and Shane O’Connor, last week captured the 2023 National Young Scientist of The Year Award at the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition in Dublin. Making the success all the more noteworthy is the fact that Liam Carew of Monour, a member of that winning duo, is from John Kiely’s home parish of Galbally and Aherlow.
Liam teamed up with Tipperary Town student Shane O’Connor to pioneer the winning project, ‘Assessing the impact of Second-Level Education on Key Aspects of Adolescents’ Life and Development’- a wide ranging study that looked at the impacts of secondary school on students’ mental, physical, and social well-being. The 2023 BT Young Scientist and Technology winners received the BTYSTE perpetual trophy and the top prize of €7,500.
The winning students were accorded a hero’s welcome on their return to Tipperary Town on Monday last as classmates Liam and Shane held the trophy aloft on their journey to the Abbey school grounds atop a vintage electric blue Ford convertible.
Students lined the streets in a guard of honour as the winners were ushered to the school by Tipperary Town Gardaí, who were delighted to provide an escort for the two very special VIPs. This is the first time the Abbey Secondary School has brought home the overall national award. Delighted with the success, proud dad Brendan Carew says that accomplished sportsman Liam is an all-rounder, good to help at home and on the farm and always getting involved in extra-curricular activities.
“Since he was a child Liam could hold court with people, young and old. He had a terrific bond with his grand-parents, especially his recently deceased grandfather, Tim Carew, who made no secret of the fact that Liam was his favourite. As his parents, myself and Anne are very proud of Liam. It’s a family affair with his siblings, twins, Tadhg and Una, and Róisín all involved in every endeavour,” Brendan told the Vale Star.
The national award wasn’t the only accolade to come the way of students in this region. Coláiste Iósaef in Kilmallock was recog-nised with an award for a project titled ‘Prevalence of Eating Disorders in Adolescent Boys in an Irish School’, presented by Darcy Hanley-Cronin, Sinéad Harte and Marta Manero, while Seán O’Sullivan of Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom collected an accolade for his entry ‘Investigating the Viability of Micro-Level Wind Generation.’
The Croom college also came up trumps with ‘The development of a wearable device to alert the user to apply sunscreen’, by Katelyn Prior, Caitlin Quain and Aiden Osccar.
(See the full story with pictures inside this week).