Irish Science Olympiads (ISO)

IRISH SCIENCE OLYMPIAD (ISO)

Informatics, Chemistry, Biology & Physics Olympiads

Dr. Michael A. Cotter, PhD, founded the Irish Science Olympiads (ISO) in 1998. While lecturing in Dublin City University (DCU) he devised and established four All-Ireland Schools Science Olympiads in Informatics, Chemistry, Biology and Physics between 1994-1997. Up to then, no Irish student had yet competed in the International Biology, Chemistry and Physics International Olympiads: - IBO, IChO and IPhO.

In 1998 he amalgamated all four All-Ireland Schools Science Olympiads into one consolidated Olympiad. These included the All Ireland Schools Programming Competition which along with Mr. Charlie Daly (DCU School of Computing) he founded in 1994 as the mechanism for selecting Irish students to represent Ireland at the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) and the All Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition which he founded in 1996 as the mechanism for selecting Irish students to represent Ireland at the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO). In 1996 he founded the All Ireland Schools Biology Competition and the All Ireland Schools Physics Competition as the mechanism for selecting Irish students to participate in the International Biology Olympiad (IBO) and the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).

His initial idea was to combine all the four competitions into an all Ireland event called the Annual Schools Science Festival (ASSF). He sent his proposal to the DCU President, Dr. Danny O’Hare and the Heads of the four DCU Science and Computing Schools. The proposal was accepted and the decision was made to proceed. However with the continued financial support from IBM the event was eventually called the “IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad”.

Dr. Michael A. Cotter presented his idea for an ISO logo: a rough drawing which included the IBM ‘lines” and four symbols on each corner to represent Computing, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, to the IBM graphic designer, Mr. Ramon Herranz of Clan Design (http://www.clandesign.ie/). Mr. Herranz completed the final original ISO logo. This logo shows a link with the 5 Olympics rings logo.

European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO)

The European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) was founded by Dr. Michael A. Cotter, Dublin, Ireland. He developed his idea of a science competition for 16 year-old EU students following his experience as founder and Managing Director of the Irish Science Olympiad (ISO). He wanted the new science competition to be different from the other International Science Olympiads in respect of student age, content, time of year and format. In addition, he wanted it to be complimentary to, and not in competition with, the existing International, Regional and National Science Olympiads and competitions.The EUSO is unique among the International Science Olympiads in that both test are multidisciplinary, integrated  and practical, it is a team competition and each participant receives a medal. Dr. Cotter was initially the country coordinator of EUSO - Ireland (IrEUSO).

International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO)

Dr. Michael A. Cotter was one of the founding members of the International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) and was the Director of the IJSO - Ireland (IrJSO).

IRISH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE OLYMPIAD TEAMS & MEDAL WINNERS 1993-2017

International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) – IRELAND

In the 1980s and 1990s, the introduction of computers into primary and post-primary schools in Ireland depended largely on visionary teachers. Students also took part in computing clubs. In 1993 Dr. Sean Close (St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra), who ran the Logo computing project ( see Historical Background below) encouraged young computer students to participate in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). Professor Michael Ryan (DCU) decided to support the idea and asked a DCU computer lecturer, Mr. Charlie Daly to lead the Irish delegation. Charlie agreed and in July 1993, along with Joseph Carroll, John Lambe and Walter O’Brien, travelled to Mendoza, Argentina to compete for Ireland for the first time in the IOI.

IOI 1993 Mendoza, Argentina

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1993	John Lambe	Terenure College, Dublin
1993	Joseph Carroll	Terenure College, Dublin
1993	Walter O’Brien	St. Mary’s CBS, Enniscorthy

The first IBM/DCU All Ireland Schools Programming Competition was held in DCU on April 1st -2nd 1994. Every Post-Primary School in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland received a package in early January, including the rules and regulations, the round one questions, a poster and an application form. Computimes, a supplement with the Irish Times also agreed to publish the Round 1 Questions in January. The students were informed that as well as trying to stimulate their interested in programming by independent and creative solving of problems the other aim of the competition was to select the National Team to represent Ireland at the 6th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Sweden.

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1994	*Brian Jones	Gonzaga College SJ, Sandford Rd., Dublin 6
1994	Hugh Larkin	Oatlands College, Mount Merrion, Co. Dublin
1994	John Sullivan	Coláiste an Spioraid Naomh, Bishopstown, Co. Cork
1994	Sean Kinsella	De La Salle College, St. Mantan’s Rd., Co. Wicklow

• Brian Jones won a bronze medal

Year	*IOI Team Member	School/College
1995	*Aoife Cahill	St. Angela’s College, St. Patrick’s Hill, Co. Cork.
1995	*Eoin Curran	High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Co. Dublin
1995	*Robert Beattie	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast
1995	Brian Jones	Gonzaga College SJ, Sandford Rd., Dublin 6
1995	Niall Smart	Kilkenny College, Castlecomer Rd., Co.Kilkenny

• At IOI 1995, the host country, the Netherlands, in an attempt to encourage female participation in computing, proposed that a country attending with a mixed gender team would be invited to send a 5-member team instead of the usual 4 members.
• Eoin Curran and Robert Beatie won bronze medals
• Eoin Curran, who had been involving with Irish computer programming since 1990 downed in a sailing accident in New York in July 2010 where he was working as a computer programmer with Google. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.
• Aoife Cahill graduated with a PhD in Computing in DCU in 2004. (Cahill, Aoife. 2004. Parsing with Automatically Acquired, Wide-Coverage, Robust, Probabilistic LFG Approximations. Ph.D. thesis, School of Computing, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland)

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1996	*Colin Watson	Our Lady & St. Patrick’s College, Knock, Belfast
1996	*Eoin Curran	High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Co. Dublin
1996	Andrew McCarthy	Blackrock College, Rock Rd., Co. Dublin
1996	Robert Beattie	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast

• Colin Watson and Eoin Curran won bronze medals

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1997	*Eoin Curran	The High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Dublin 6
1997	*Robert Beattie	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast
1997	Paul McClave	De La Salle College, Churchtown, Co. Dublin
1997	Colin Watson	Our Lady & St. Patrick’s College, Derry

• Eoin Curran won a silver medal
• Robert Beatie won a bronze medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1998	*Robert Beattie	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast, Co. Antrim
1998	*Ciarán Ó Conaire	Coláiste Mhuire, Cearnóg Pharnell, Baile Atha Cliath 1
1998	James Martin	Ennis Community College, Ennis, Co. Clare
1998	Oisin Suttle	Gonzaga College SJ, Ranelagh, Dublin 6

• Robert Beattie won a bronze medal
• Ciarán Ó Conaire graduated with a PhD in Engineering in DCU (2007:- The title of Ciarán's thesis is "Adaptive detection and tracking using Multimodal Information")

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
1999	*Ciarán Ó Conaire	Coláiste Mhuire, Cearnóg Pharnell, Baile Atha Cliath 1
1999	Oisin Suttle	Gonzaga College SJ, Ranelagh, Dublin 6
1999	Sean Byrne	Carrick Vocational School, Carrick, Co. Donegal
1999	Vincent Foley	Scoil Mhuire Gan Smal, Blarney, Co. Cork

• Ciarán Ó Conaire won a bronze medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2000	Eamon Phelan	St. Kieran’s College, College Rd., Kilkenny, Co. Kilkenny
2000	Eoin Ó Fiachain	St. Joseph’s Patrician College, Nuns Island, Galway
2000	Liyang Hu	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast
2000	Vincent Foley	Scoil Mhuire gan Smál, Blarney. Co. Cork

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2001	Daniel Irvine	The Royal Belfast Acad. Inst., College Square East, Belfast
2001	Eamon Phelan	St. Kieran’s College, College Rd., Co. Kilkenny
2001	Niall Moran	St. Joseph’s Patrician College, Nuns Island, Galway
2001	Nicholas Nash	The High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Dublin 6

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2002	*Martin Orr	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast.
2002	Eamon Phelan	The Institute of Education, Lower Leeson St., Dublin 2
2002	Daniel Irvine	The Royal Belfast Acad. Inst., College Square East, Belfast
2002	Robert Cunningham	Foyle & Londonderry College, Co. Londonderry

• Martin Orr won a bronze medal. Martin was conferred with a PhD FROM Université Paris Sud in 2013. (Orr. M. PhD. The André-Pink conjecture : Hecke orbits and weakly special subvarieties. General Mathematics [math.GM]. Université Paris Sud - Paris XI, 2013 )

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2003	*Martin Orr	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast.
2003	Robert Cunningham	Foyle & Londonderry College, Co. Londonderry
2003	Kenneth Barrett	St. Brendan's College, Belmullet, Co. Mayo
2003	Daniel Kersten	Kilkenny College, Co. Kilkenny

• Martin Orr won a gold medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2004	*Martin Orr	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast.
2004	Daniel Kersten	Kilkenny College, Co. Kilkenny
2004	Jonathon Bolster	St. Columb's College, Buncranna Road, Co. Derry
2004	Alex Clossick	Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare

• Martin won a silver medal and in addition was awarded the Pauline Knight award

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2005	*Martin Orr	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast.
2005	Alex Clossick	Clongowes Wood College, Co. Kildare
2005	Cian Hughes	Gonzaga College, Sanford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin
2005	Stephen Dolan	Colaiste Cholmcille, Co. Donegal

• Martin won a silver medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2006	*Stephen Dolan	Colaiste Cholmcille, Co. Donegal
2006	Cian Hughes	Gonzaga College, Sanford Road, Ranelagh, Dublin
2006	Michael Clear	Mountmellick Community School, Co Laois
2006	Barry Hurley	Gaelcholáiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co. Cork

• Stephen Dolan won a silver medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2007	*Stephen Dolan	Colaiste Cholmcille, Co. Donegal
2007	Barry Hurley	Gaelcholáiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
2007	Robin Tobin	St. Aidan's CBS, Whitehall , Dublin 9
2007	Amy-Kate O Mahony	St. Aloysius' School, Sharman Crawford Street, Cork

• Stephen Dolan won a bronze medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2008	Brian Walsh	St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork
2008	David McCarthy	Midleton CBS, Midleton, Co. Cork
2008	Harry Cameron	Antrim Grammar School, Steeple Road, Co. Antrim
2008	Kevin Leo	Cork LC College, Mel House, 31 South Terrace, Cork City

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2009	*Brian Walsh	St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork
2009	David McCarthy	Midleton CBS, Midleton, Co. Cork
2009	Simon-Peter Free	Templeogue College, Dublin 6W
2009	Jared Auty	St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork

• David Walsh won a bronze medal

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2010	Jared Auty	St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork
2010	Donncha O’Cearbhaill
2010	Shane Walsh
2010	Thomas Dunne

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2011	Donncha O’Cearbhaill
2011	Sam Boles
2011	Shane Walsh
2011	Thomas Dunne

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2012	Maciej Goszczycki		Colaiste Chroah Abhann, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
2012	Abdullah Mohammad		Carrigaline Community School, Co. Cork
2012	Conor Flynn		St. Joseph's College, Nun's Island, Galway
2012	Richard Tynan		Cistercian College, Roscrea

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2013	Maciej Goszczycki	Colaiste Chroah Abhann, Kilcoole, Co. Wicklow
2013	Richard Tynan	Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2014	Richard Tynan	Cistercian College, Roscrea, Co. Tipperary
2014	Áron Hoffman	Luttrellstown Community College, Dublin
2014	Conor Griffin	Ardscoil Ris, Limerick
2014	Daniel Mulcahy	Gonzaga College, Dublin

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2015	Áron Hoffman	Luttrellstown Community College, Dublin
2015	Daniel Mulcahy	Gonzaga College, Dublin
2015	Noah Donnelly	Our Lady's Secondary, Monaghan
2015	Teofil Camarasu	Dundalk Grammar School, Louth

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2016	Eoin Davey	Summerhill College, Sligo
2016	Teofil Camarasu	Dundalk Grammar School, Louth
2016	John Ryan	St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, Thurles, Tipperary
2016	Kieran Horgan	Davis College, Mallow, Co. Cork

Year	IOI Team Member	School/College
2017	John Ryan	St. Joseph’s College, Borrisoleigh, Thurles, Tipperary
2017	Kieran Horgan	Davis College, Mallow, Co. Cork
2017	Aidan Molloy	Bruce College, Montenotte, Cork
2017	Oisin O’Duibhir	Scoil Mhuire agus Íde, Newcastle West, Limerick

IRISH IOI TEAM LEADERS 1993-2017

Mr. Charlie DALY

Dr. Michael A. COTTER

Dr. Ciarán Ó CONAIRE

Dr. Stephen DOLAN

Dr. Mike SCOTT

Mr. Gary CONWAY

Mr. Ximo PLANELLS

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International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) – IRELAND

The 1st All Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition, modelled on the programming competition was called bt Dr. Michael A. Cotter and was held in DCU on March 30th 1996. Every Post-Primary School in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland received a package including the rules and regulations, the round one questions, a poster and an application form. The students were given four weeks to return the completed examination.

The competition was very successful. Girls and boys were equally represented and a very high standard was achieved. Dr. Michael A. Cotter presented each finalist with a certificate and Dr. Danny O’Hare, President of DCU, presented medals to the top four students.

Irish Students did not attend the 1996 IChO. Dr. Michael A. Cotter told the students that Ireland was not eligible to compete in the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in 1966 but having sent Observers in 1995 and 1996 Ireland would be entitled to send a team of four students to the 1997 IChO.

Forty-seven students replied and the top twenty were invited to attend a one-day final at DCU. The event consisted of a three hour written examination and a two-hour practical test.

Year	Medal	Student	School/College
1996	Gold	Conor Barry	C.B.S. Midleton, Co. Cork
1996	Silver	David Fallaha	Foyle & Londonderry College, Co. Derry
1996	Bronze	Conor Mulholland	St. Louis Grammer School, Co. Antrim
1996	Bronze	Gary Coady	St. Kieran’s College, Co. Kilkenny

The 2nd All-Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition was modelled more closely on the IChO itself. The event consisted of a five hour written examination and a five-hour practical test. All the Post-Primary Schools again received a package including the round one questions. They were also informed that as well as trying to stimulate the activities of students interested in chemistry by independent and creative solving of chemical problems the other aim of the competition was to select the National Team to represent Ireland at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Montreal, Canada on July.

Over seventy students responded. The top thirty, representing fifteen counties, were invited to the final, which took place over two days, 1st and 2nd February in DCU. Dr. David Nash, Science Inspector, Department of Education presented certificates to all participants and Dr. O’Hare, President of DCU, presented medals to the top four students.

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
1997	Dominic Cavlan	St. Patrick’s Boys Academy, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
1997	Anthony O’Kane	St. Louis Grammer School, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
1997	*Noel O’Boyle	St. Muredach’s College, Ballina, Co. Mayo
1997	*Barry Hughes	St. Patrick’s Boys Academy, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
1997	*Neil Dobbs	Newtown School, Waterford, Co. Waterford

• Neil Dobbs was awarded a bronze medal at the Irish Chemistry Olympiad and was initially selected to represent Ireland at the IChO but he was unable to travel. He was replaced by Barry Hughes

• Noel Boyle won a bronze medal
• Barry Hughes was awarded an Honourable Mention Certificate

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
1998	Kelly Hanna	St. Louis Grammar School, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
1998	Fiona Begley	Mean Scoil Muire,  Swinford, Co. Mayo
1998	Tom Branigan	The Institute of Education, Lower Leeson St., Dublin 2
1998	Owen Diamond	St. Patrick’s College, Maghera, Co. Londonderry

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
1999	*Raja Mukherji	Drimnagh Castle Sec. School, Long Mile Rd., Dublin 12
1999	*Colman Carroll	St. Andrew’s College, Booterstown, Co. Dublin
1999	Murt Kelleher	St. Colman’s College, Fermoy, Co.Cork
1999	*Fiona McFerran	Loreto College, Coleraine, Co Derry

• Raja Mukherji won a silver medal
• Colman Carroll and Fiona won bronze medals

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2000	Fergus O’Boyle	St. Muredach’s College, Ballina. Co. Mayo
2000	Brian O’Neill	St. Patrick’s Boys Academy, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
2000	Frank Roche	St. Joseph’s College, Borrisaleigh, Co. Tipperary
2000	Eileen Dorgan	Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry, Co. Down
2000	* Paul Minnis	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast

• Paul Minnis, Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast was awarded a bronze medal at the Irish Chemistry Olympiad and was initially selected to represent Ireland at the IChO but he was unable to travel. He was replaced by Eileen Dorgan.

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2001	Niall Murphy	Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Co. Cork
2001	Amanda Nevin	Mount St. Michael’s School,  Claremorris, Co. Mayo
2001	Rosalind Archer	Sullivan Upper, Hollywood, Co. Down
2001	Aaron Farry	St. Clare’s Comprehensive, Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2002	*Deborah Toner	St. Louis Grammar School, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
2002	*Vladislav Malofeev	St. Paul’s  College, Raheny, Co. Dublin
2002	Pauleen McGee	Thornhill College, Culmore Road, Londonderry
2002	Martin McNamara	CBS, Ennistymon, Co. Clare

• Deborah Toner and Vladislav Malofeev won bronze medals

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2003	Alim Yuccel-Finn	St. Andrew’s College, Dublin
2003	*Lauren Rutherford	Foyle & Londonderry College, Derry
2003	*Stephen McCann	St. Colman’s College, Newry, Co. Down
2003	Cormac Quigley	Terenure College, Dublin

• Lauren Rutherford won a bronze medal
• Stephen McCann was awarded an Honourable Mention Certificate

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2004	*John McClean	Foyle & Londonderry College, Derry
2004	Robert Fenton	CBC Mitchelstown, Co. Cork
2004	John O’Boyle	St. Louis Grammar School, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
2004	Stephen Hutchinson	Banbridge Academy, Co. Down

• John McClean won a bronze medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2005	*Mary Ellen Lynall	Methodist College, Belfast
2005	*Alexey Pokrovskiy	Douglas Community School, Cork
2005	Sinead McTaggart	St. Louis Grammar, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
2005	*Aleksey Shmelov	St. Joseph's, C.B.S., Drogheda, Co. Louth

• Mary Ellen Lynall and Aleksey Pokrovskiy won bronze medals
• Alexey Shmeliv was awarded Honourable Mention Certificate

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2006	*Mary Ellen Lynall	Methodist College, Belfast
2006	Brendan Quigley	Belvedere College, 6 Great Denmark Street Dublin 1
2006	Martina Feyzrakhmanova	Castleknock Community College, Dublin 15
2006	Joseph Walsh	St. Columb's College, Buncrana Road, Derry

• Mary Ellen Lynall won a silver medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2007	*Andrew Cairns	Banbridge Academy, Co. Down
2007	Martina Feyzrakhmanova	Castleknock Community College, Dublin 15
2007	Patrick O'Sullivan	Colaiste an Chraoibhin, Fermoy, Co. Cork
2007	Grellan Tuohy	St. Muredach’s College, Ballina, Co. Mayo

• Andrew Cairns won a bronze medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2008	*Emma Wilkinson	Banbridge Academy, Co. Down
2008	Adam Johnston	Dalriada School, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim
2008	Hannah Cagney	Mount Anville Secondary School, Goatstown, Dublin 14
2008	*Tim Cronin	CBC, Sydney Hill, Cork.

• Emma Wilkinson won a bronze medal
• Tim Cronin was awarded an Honourable Mention Certificate

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2009	*Gareth Gamble	Banbridge Academy, Banbridge, Co. Down
2009	Ciarán Coney	St. Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt, Co. Derry
2009	Garreth McCrudden	Lumen Christi College, Bishop Street, Derry
2009	*Daniel Quill	St. Michael’s College, Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4

• Gareth Gamble and Daniel Quill won a bronze medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2010	*Daniel Quill	St. Michael’s College, Ailesbury Road, Dublin 4
2010	Jonathan Wilson	Portora Royal College,
2010	Dermot Gillan	Marist College, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
2010	*Anandagopal Srinivasan	Methodist College, Belfast, Co. Antrim

• Daniel Quill and Anandagopal Srinivasan won bronze medals

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2011	Aisling Kerr	Our Lady’s College, Castleblaney, Co. Monaghan
2011	Yang Xu	Lumen Chrisi College, Bishop’s Street, Derry
2011	*Matthew Knox	Banbridge Academy, Lurgan Road, Co. Down
2011	Robert Ryan	Castletroy College, Limerick

• Matthew Knox won a bronze medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2012	Mark McCullagh	Banbridge Academy, Lurgan Road, Co. Down
2012	*Niamh Broderick	Moate CC, Co. Westmeath
2012	David Cochrane	Foyle and Londerry College, Derry
2012	Pearse Solon	Rice College, Ennis, Co. Clare

• Niamh Broderick won a bronze medal

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2013	Zac Lockhart	Banbridge Academy, Lurgan Road, Co. Down
2013	David Kelly	Blackrock College, Co. Dublin
2013	Alastair Herron	Royal Belfast Academical Institute, Belfast, Co. Antrim
2013	Pearse Solon	Rice College, Ennis, Co. Clare

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2014	Michael Casey	St. Louis Grammar School, Ballymena, Co. Antrim
2014	Fintan Devine	St. Mary’s Grammar School,  Magherafely, Co. Derry
2014	Michael Hayes	Hazelwood College, Dromcollogher, Co. Limerick
2014	Gerard Crowley	St. Agustine’s College, Dungarvan, Co. Waterford

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2015	Kevin Fletcher	Colaiste Eanna, CBS, Templeeogue, Dublin 16
2015	Thomas Donaldson	Royal Belfast Academical Institute, Belfast, Co. Antrim
2015	Joshua Gorman-Climax	Blackrock College, Co. Dublin
2015

2016: Ireland did not participate in the 48th IChO in Tbilisi, Georgia

Year	IChO Team Member	School/College
2017	Aaron Hannon	St. Muredach’s College, Ballina, Co. Mayo
2017	*Alicia Huntley	Regent House School, Newtownards, Co.Down
2017	*Diarmuid O’Donoghue	Ashton School, Blackrock Road, Cork
2017	*Michael Yuan Hong	Methodist College, Malone Road, Belfast

• Alicia Huntley, Diarmuid O’Donoghue and Michael Yuan Hong won bronze medals

IRISH IChO TEAM LEADERS 1997 – 2017

Dr. Paraic James

Dr. Michael A. Cotter

Dr. Mary Pryce

Mr. Vincent Hooper

Dr. Matthew Cook

Dr. Pat O’Malley

Dr. Wesley Browne

Dr. Mercedes Vazquez

Dr. Cormac Quigley

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International Physics Olympiad (IPhO) - IRELAND

The first All Ireland Schools Physics Competition took place in DCU in 1998 as part of the IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad. Ireland participated with a full delegation at the 28th IPhO in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1998.

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
1998	Ben O’Leary	St Columba’s  College, Whitechurch, Dublin 16
1998	Oliver Nash	The High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Dublin 6
1998	Andrew McDonagh	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast
1998	Charlotte Conn	Sacred Heart Grammar School, Newry, Co. Down
1998	Peter Harper	Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
1999	*Rory Redmond	St. Coleman’s College, Armagh Rd., Newry, Co. Down
1999	James Elliot	Coleraine Academical Inst. Coleraine, Co. Derry
1999	*Eamonn Murray	CBS, Middleton, Co. Cork
1999	Conor McLernon	St. Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon, Co. Tyrone
1999	*Barkley Bellinger	Bangor Grammer School, Bangor, Co. Down

• Barkley Bellinger won a bronze medal
• Rory Redmond and Eamonn Murray were awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2000	James Hanna	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast
2000	Andrew Millen	Coleraine Academical Institute, Coleraine, Co. Derry
2000	James Dollard	CBC, Sidney Hill, Cork
2000	Gerard Hennessy	CUS, 89 Lower Leeson Street, Dublin 2
2000	Brian Phelan	Heywood Community School, Ballinakill, Co. Laois

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2001	Iris Pui-Suen Choi	Community College, Ennis, Co. Clare
2001	Peadar O Broin	Coláiste Raithlín, Florence Rd., Bray, Co. Wicklow
2001	Jennifer McCaughan	Coleraine High School, Lodge Rd., Co. Derry
2001	Lennon Neary	Scoil Chaitríona, Bothar Mobhí, Baile Atha Cliath 9
2001	Robert McCracken	Omagh Academy, Dublin Rd., Omagh, Co. Tyrone

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2002	Particia Kelly	Thornhill College, Culmore Rd. Derry
2002	Shane O’ Farrell	Coláiste an Spioraid Naoimh, Bishopstown, Cork
2002	*Stephen McMahon	St. Colman’s College, Armagh Rd. Newry, Co. Down
2002	Gillian Heavy	Loreto Abbey, Dalkey, Co. Dublin
2002	Barry O’ Mahony	Presentation Brothers College, Mardyke, Co. Cork

• Stephen McMahon won a bronze medal

• Stephen McMahon and Gillian Heavy are now married

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2003	*Michael White	Hamilton High School, Bandon, Co Cork
2003	Barry O'Mahony	Presentation Brothers College, The Mardyke, Cor
2003	*Eoin Butler	Waterpark College, Park Road, Waterford
2003	*Ronan Conlon	St. Colman’s College, Armagh Rd, Newry, Co. Down
2003	Jennifer Scott	Methodist College, 1 Malone Rd, Belfast

• Michael White won a bronze medal
• Eoin Butler was awarded an Honourable Mention Certificate
• Ronan Conlon was unable to travel to the IPhO

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2004	*Michael Magee	Methodist College, 1 Malone Rd, Belfast
2004	*Robert Clancy	Belvedere College, Great Denmark Street, Dublin 2
2004	Colm Kelleher	De La Salle, Macroom, Co. Cork
2004	Joseph Flood	Blackrock College, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
2004	Christophe McGlade	Methodist College, 1 Malone Rd, Belfast

• Michael Magee won a bronze medal
• Robert Clancy was awarded an Honourable Mention Certificate

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2005	Geoffrey Sheil	St. Columba's College, Whitechurch, Dublin 16
2005	*Ady Abdelhaq	Rockwell College, Cashel,  Co. Tipperary
2005	Alix Murphy	Sacred Heart Grammar, Newry, Co. Down
2005	Nina Hanzlikova	Our Lady's Bower, Athlone, Co. Westmeath
2005	Marie Therese Hall	Thornhill College, Derry

• Ady Abdelhaq was awarded an Honorable Mention Certificate

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2006	*Clare O'Driscoll	Mercy Heights, Skibbereen, Co. Cork
2006	*Karl Irwin	Methodist College, Belfast, Co. Antrim
2006	Aman Yadav	St. Colman's College, Fermoy, Co. Cork
2006	Margaret Donnelly	Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
2006	Mark Moriarty	CBC, Sidney Hill, Cork City

• Clare O'Driscoll and Karl Irwin were awarded Honorable Mention Certificate

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2007	*Paul McElhinney	Belvedere College SJ, 6 Great Denmark Street, Dublin 1
2007	*Mark Moriarty	CBC, Sidney Hill, Cork City
2007	*Eamon Robinson	St. Columb’s College, Derry, Co Derry
2007	*Simon Wright	Methodist College, Malone Rd., Belfast, Co. Antrim

• Paul McElhinney and Simon Wright were awarded Bronze medals
• Mark Moriarty and Eamon Robinson were awarded Honourable Mention Certificates.

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2008	*Mark Moriarty	CBC, Sidney Hill, Cork City
2008	*Alan Bloomer	Waterpark College, Park Road, Waterford
2008	*Jonathan McKenzie	Banbridge Academy, Lurgan Road, Co. Down
2008	*Stephanie Hyland	Rockford Manor School, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
2008	Robert Richardson	Coláiste Iognáid, 24 Bothar na Mara, Gaillimh

• Mark Moriarty was awarded a bronze medal
• Alan Bloomer, Jonathan McKenzie & Stephanie Hyland were awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2009	*John Collison	Castletroy College, Newtown, Castletroy, Co. Limerick
2009	David Cox	Portadown College, Killicomaine Road, Co. Armagh
2009	*Philip Flahavan	Clongowes Wood College, Clane, Co. Kildare
2009	*Brajith Srigengan	Methodist College, Malone Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim

• John Collison, Philip Flahavan and Brajith Srigengan were awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2010	Ciaran Deasy	Bruce College, St. Patrick’s Hill, Cork
2010	*Jordan Millar	Regent House School, Newntownards, Co. Down
2010	*David Nesbitt	Ballymena Academy, Co. Antrim
2010	Michael Moran	St. Jarlath’s College, Tuam, Co. Galway

• Jordan Millar won a bronze medal
• David Nesbitt was awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2011	*Thomas Hayes	Pobalscoil Inbhear Sceine, Kenmare, Co. Kerry
2011	Shageth Srigengan	Methodist College, Malone Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim
2011	*Karl McCarron	Luman Christi College, Bishop St. Derry
2011	Mark O’Donnell	Clongowes Wood,  Clane, Co. Kildare

• Thomas Hayes won a bronze medal
• Karl McCarron was awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

Year	IPhO Team Member	School/College
2012	Liam Mulcahy	Clongowes Wood,  Clane, Co. Kildare
2012	Thomas Wyse Jackson	Wesley College, Balinteer, Dublin 16
2012	*Dale Hughes	Ballymena Academy, Co. Antrim.
2012	Horatio Mulholland	Methodist College, Malone Road, Belfast, Co. Antrim

• Dale Hughes was awarded Honourable Mention Certificates

IRISH IPhO TEAM LEADERS 1998 - 2012

Dr. Enda McGlynn

Mr. David Rea

Dr. Michael A. Cotter

Dr. Eilish McLoughlin

Dr. Paul van Kampen

Dr. Eamon Cunningham

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International Biology Olympiad (IBO) - IRELAND

The first All Ireland Schools Biology Competition took place in DCU in 1998 as part of the IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad and a National team was selected to represent Ireland at the 8th International Biology Olympiad in Kiel, Germany in 1998.

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
1998	*Mark Bridgman	Ballyclare High School, Rashee Rd., Co. Antrim
1998	Sorcha Ní Dhubhghaill	Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla, Dublin 15
1998	*Alison Walker	Ballymena Academy, Co. Antrim
1998	Colm McCarthy	Douglas Community School, Co. Cork

• Mark Bridgman and Alison Walker won bronze medals

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
1999	*John Browne	Presentation College, Athenry, Co. Galway
1999	*Michelle McCartney	The High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Co Dublin
1999	*Sorcha Ni Dhubhghaill	Colaiste Padraig CBS, Lucan, Co. Dublin
1999	*Adrian Rea	Ballyclare High School, Rashee Rd. Co. Antrim

• John Browne, Michelle McCartney, Sorcha Ni Dhubhghaill and Adrian Rea won bronze medal

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2000	*Brenda Power	Down Hill School, Downpatrick, Co. Down
2000	Sarah Picardo	Dominican College, Griffith Avenue, Dublin 9
2000	Daniel Rigney	St. Columb's College, Buncrana Rd., Co. Derry
2000	Tomás Doyle	St. Joseph's School, Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath

• Brenda Power won a bronze medal

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2001	Tomás Doyle	St. Joseph's School, Rochfortbridge, Co. Westmeath
2001	Judith Green	St. Michael’s School, Co. Armagh
2001	Mark O’Brien	Coláiste Chríost Rí, Capwell Rd., Cork
2001	Karen Roddy	St. Vincent’s Secondary School, Dundalk, Co. Louth

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2002	*Neil Barrett	CBC, Midleton Co. Cork
2002	*Lara Dungan	Wesley College, Ballinteer, Dublin 16
2002	Donna York	Rainey Endowed School, Magharafelt, Co. Derry
2002	Geoffrey O’Toole	St. Macartan’s College, Monaghan Town, Co. Monaghan

• Neil Barrett and Lara Dungan won bronze medals

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2003	*Paul Webster	The High School, Zion Rd., Rathgar, Dublin
2003	Philip Crea	Down High School, Co. Down
2003	Claire McGovern	Our Lady's School, Templeogue, Dublin
2003	Noirin McFadden	Loreto Secondary School, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

• Paul Webster won a bronze medal

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2004	* Marguerite Carter	Loreto High School, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14
2004	* Joanna Curry	Convent Grammar School, Strabane, Co. Tyrone
2004	Alan Kershaw	Coleraine Academical Institution, Co. Derry
2004	William F. O' Carroll	St. Michael's College, Aylesbury Road, Dublin 4

• Marguerite Carter and Joanna Curry won bronze medals

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2005	David Mitchell	Cookstown High School, Co. Tyrone
2005	Susan Spillane	St. Angela's College, Cork
2005	Patrick Walker	Wesley College, Dublin 16
2005	Charlene Tennyson	St. Michael's Grammar School, Co. Armagh

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2006	*Michael McGarvey	St Patrick's Academy, Dungannon, Co Tyrone
2006	Moyra Lawrence	Loreto Secondary School, Balbriggan
2006	Charlene Tennyson	St. Michael's Grammar School, Co. Armagh
2006	Mattew Corrigan	Mount Temple, Dublin

• Michael McGarvey won a bronze medal

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2007	*James Wu	Methodist College, Belfast, Co Antrim
2007	Thomas McGrath-Daly	Castlecomer Community School, Kilkenny
2007	Ciarán Downey	St. Columb’s College, Derry, Co Derry
2007	Naomi Hodgins	Kings Hospital College, Palmerstown, Dublin

• James Wu won a bronze medal

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2008	*Douglas Temple	St. Andrew’s College, Booterstown, Co. Dublin
2008	*Melanie Mac Pherson	Methodist College, Belfast, Co. Antrim
2008	Emer O’Connell	St. Angela’s College, St. Patrick’s Hill, Cork
2008	Carol-Ann Gallagher	Thronhill College, Culmore Road, Derry

• Douglas Temple and Melanie Mac Pherson won bronze medals

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2009	*Roxanne Lau	Dalriada Grammar School, Ballymoney, Co. Antrim
2009	*Piers Murphy	Methodist College, Belfast, Co. Antrim, BT9 6BY
2009	*Francis Samuel Duffy	Colaiste Ris, Castlebar Rd., Westport, Mayo
2009	Aoife McCarthy	St. Angela’s, College, St. Patrick's Hill, Cork City

• Roxanne Lau, Piers Murphy and Francis Samuel Duffy won bronze medals

Year	IBO Team Member	School/College
2010	*Gillian Crowe	Mount Anville School, Dublin 4
2010	*Youngmook Lim	St. Andrew’s College, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
2010	Emma O’Deorain	St. Cecilia’s College, Bligh’s lane, Derry
2010	William Mullan

• Gillian Crowe and Youngmook Lim won bronze medals

IRISH IBO TEAM LEADERS 1998 - 2010

Professor Richard O Kennedy

Dr. Michael A. Cotter

Dr. Susan Townsend

Dr. Elaine Darcy

Dr. Elizabeth Peachey

Dr. Clare Ryan

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European Union Science Olympiad (EUSO) – IRELAND

IrEUSO Teams & Medal Winners

Year	Student name	Gender	School	Medal
2003	Aisling Mac Neill	Female
2003	Anna D’Arcy	Female
2003	Jacqueline O’Gorman	Female
2003	Natalie McIntosh	Female
2003	Catherine Graham	Male
2003	Eoin Butler	Male
2003	James Breslin	Male
2003	Sean O’ Sullivan	Male
2003	Stephen Dennehy	Male
2004	Ady Abdelhaq	Male
2004	Aleksey Shmelov	Male
2004	Alexey Pokrovskiy	Male
2004	Gabriel Beecham	Male
2004	Patrick Walker	Male
2004	Stephen Kenneally	Male
2004	Alana Gibney Finglas	Female
2004	Aoife Ni Mhaolleoin	Female
2004	Jodie Doyle	Female
2005	Aman Yadav	Male
2005	Aisling Rooney	Female
2005	Alana Gibney Finglas	Female
2005	Aoibheann Brady	Female
2005	Martina Feyzrakmanova	Female
2005	Sheile McSweeney	Female
2006	Andrew Roe-O’Leary	Male
2006	Mark Moriarty	Male
2006	Patrick O’Sullivan	Male
2006	Thomas-J. McGrath-Daly	Male
2006	Caoimbe Delaney	Female
2006	Nuala McAuley	Female
2007	Galin Ganchev	Male
2007	Karen McCarthy	Female
2007	Nick Byrne	Male
2007	Patrick Kerr	Male
2007	Robert Varley	Male
2007	Tim Cronin	Male
2008	David Mulligan	Male
2008	Francis Samuel Duffy	Male
2008	Gearoid Patrick Wrixon	Male
2008	Orla Mary Carron	Male
2008	Patrick James Carthy	Male
2008	Hannah M. J. Emagghiss	Female
2009	Anna P. Lawless	Female
2009	Ciaran F. Deasy	Male
2009	Donnchadh M. O’Sullivan	Male
2009	Killian Donovan	Male
2009	Paul Stewart	Male
2009	Ramia Jameel	Male
2010	Aidan Kelly	Male
2010	Aisling Kerr	Female
2010	Jack Hutchinson	Male
2010	Owen Killian	Male
2010	Thomas Hayes	Male
2010	Yunwoo Lee	Female
2011	Adam Connolly	Male
2011	Alice Whyte	Female
2011	Caoimhe Normile	Female
2011	Ciana Diskin	Female
2011	Jonathan Lynn	Male
2011	Joseph O´Sullivan	Male
2012	Cliona Mary Cowhig	Female
2012	Darragh John Rice	Male
2012	David James Kelly	Male
2012	Orla Louise Sherwood	Female
2012	Pearse Anthony Solon	Male
2012	Sarah Elizabeth Brennan	Female
2013	Dominic Ó Gallachóir	Male
2013	Eoin Farrell	Male
2013	Gerard Crowley	Male
2013	Oisin Faust	Male
2013	Shane Finn	Male
2013	Siân Roberts-Walsh	Male
2014	Carl Beadle	Male
2014	Eimear Kirby	Female
2014	Jack Kyle	Male
2014	Joshua Gorman Climax	Male
2014	Niamh O’Neill	Female
2014	Rebecca Gill	Female
2015	Anna McAleer	Female
2015	Bethan Godber	Female
2015	Cillian Ó Dochartaigh	Male
2015	Damien Doherty	Male
2015	Mark Fortune	Male
2015	Robert Sparkes	Male
2016	Darragh Glynn	Male
2016	Emily Rose McCarthy	Female
2016	Ryan James Bell	Male
2016	Thomas Cornally	Male
2016	Thomas Elliot McCarthy	Male
2016	Yan Li	Male
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017
2017

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International Junior Science Olympiad (IJSO) - IRELAND

IrJSO Teams & Medal Winners

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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The Irish Science Olympiad (ISO) was begun, with Computing in DCU in 1994, by Dr. Michael A. Cotter and Mr. Charlie Daly. However participation in computing by Irish students has a long and impressive history and some of these early young student enthusiasts for computing eventually represented Ireland the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

ISO - The Early Years

In the 1980s and 1990s, the introduction of computers into primary and post-primary schools in Ireland depended largely on visionary teachers who were motivated by their own beliefs in the potential of computers as an education, communication and research tool and their desire to introduce Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) into their classrooms. Teachers were supported through membership of the Computer Education Society of Ireland (CESI) founded in 1973 and by the teachers’ unions: - the Irish National Teachers Organization (INTO), the Teachers Union of Ireland (TUI) and the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) and by the Department of Education. As well as providing courses for committed teachers the CESI organized summer courses for young students on all aspects of computing including computer programming, most of whom had their own personal computers at home and who were primarily self taught. The Royal Dublin Society (RDS) founded in 1731 to promote and develop agriculture, arts, industry and science in Ireland was also providing summer courses for students in the use of computers in the 1980s and 1990s. In many second level schools these young computer enthusiasts were given freedom to experiment with the school computers and played a major role in setting up computer rooms and maintaining the school networks. They were also meeting up at computer clubs such as the “Electron Club” at the RDS, at science fairs and exhibitions and at computing competitions where they exchanged ideas. John Carroll (Terenure College, Dublin) won the RYKOV award for his Fluid Simulation Programme at the RDS Electron Club completion in 1992. His friend Tony Hetherington (Terenure College, Dublin) also won an award. They were both active in setting up and maintaining the computer facility at Terenure College. These students are named because they and a few others were the pioneers in the getting Ireland involved the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI).

Logo Turtle Graphics

Another meeting place was the Logo Project run by Dr. Sean Close in St. Patrick’s College of Education, Drumcondra, Dublin 9. Logo is a computer programming language develops at MIT.

In the mid 1960s Seymour Papert, a mathematician who had been working with Piaget in Geneva came to the United States where he co-founded the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory with Dr. Marvin Minsky. Their work with Dr. Wallace Feurzeig led to the creation of the first version of Logo in 1967. (http://www.atariarchives.org/deli/logo.php)

The most popular Logo environments involved the “Turtle”. This was originally a robotic creature that sat on the floor and connected by a wire could be directed to move around by typing commands at the computer. Soon the Turtle migrated to the computer graphics screen where it is used to draw shapes, designs, and pictures. It was accessible to novices, including young children and also supports complex explorations and sophisticated projects by experienced users. Widespread use of Logo began with the advent of personal computers during the late 1970s. It received considerable support from mainstream computer manufacturers when their versions of Logo were distributed free with new computers.

The Logo programming environment is rooted in constructivist educational philosophy and was designed to support constructive learning. Constructivism views knowledge as being created by learners in their own minds through interaction with other people and the world around them. This theory is most closely associated with Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, who spent decades studying and documenting the learning processes of young children.

With the publication of Seymour Papert’s Mindstorms in 1980, thousands of teachers throughout the world became excited by the intellectual and creative potential of Logo. Their enthusiasm fuelled the Logo boom of the early 1980s.

Although there are some versions of Logo that compile, it is generally implemented as an interpreted language. The interactivity of this approach provides the user with immediate feedback on individual instructions, thus aiding in the debugging and learning process.

Irish Computer Programming Students Success

As well as learning the computing language Logo, Irish students also competed in the Irish National and International Logo Competition. Eoin Curran came first in the Irish National Logo competition in 1990 & 1991 and was awarded the Dr. Fred Klotz Memorial Trophy on both occasions.

WICPSC

Many students also took part in the “Wisconsin International Computer Problem Solving Competition” (WICPSC). The Irish centre was at St. Patrick’s College and run by Dr. Sean Close. This competition devised by Professor Donald T. Piele, (http://www.vistosofh.com/memsol.cgi?user_id=1440297) University of Wisconsin Parkside, Kenosha was a team competition consisting of one, two or three student members. The senior division was for students of a maximum age 18, the junior division maximum age 15 and the elementary division maximum age 12. This contest was a timed event that challenged each team to solve as many problems from a set of five that they could within a two-hour time limit. Any computer system or computer language could be used, however, each team could use only one input device (keyboard/terminal). After the two-hour period, each team was allowed time to list its programs and sample runs to a printer.

What the judges looked for in a program was whether it ran correctly or not. If it did not produce the output specified in the problem, then the program received a zero. If it did run correctly, then it receives 15 points. Additional points from 1 to 5 were awarded for simplicity, style and readability. The extra points were often necessary to distinguish between teams with the same number of correct solutions.

Eóin Curran (Ireland) took first place at the 1990 WICPSC Elementary Level under 16 and at the 1992 WICPSC Senior Division under 19, Walter O’Brien (St. Mary’s CBS, Enniscorthy), Tony Hetherington (Terenure College) and Niall Murphy (Belvedere College) were the original team members. Tony Hetherington withdrew and was replaced by John Lambe (Terenure College). Walter O’Brien and Joseph Carroll were also involved in the St Patrick’s Colleges Logo Project (Turtle Logo) with Dr. Close.

In 1993 Dr. Close suggested that they participate in the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI). Professor Ryan (DCU) decided to support the idea and asked a DCU computer lecturer, Mr. Charlie Daly to lead the Irish delegation. Charlie agreed and in July 1993, Walter O’Brien, Joseph Carroll, and John Lambe travelled to Mendoza, Argentina to compete for Ireland for the first time in the IOI.

Thus began an adventure that was to lead directly to the establishment of the Irish Science Olympiads

IOI 1993 – First Time

According to the IOI 1993 regulations the delegations would consist of a team leader and a deputy team leader and a team of not more than four students who were born after 30th June 1974 and attending secondary school during 1992-93 school year. The Irish students had expected to compete as an "Irish Team” as in the WICPSC. They all had different complementary skills which would have been useful in a team competition. However they discovered that the word “Team” was a misnomer. It was, and continues to be, an individual computer programming competition. The students would be tested as individuals and not as a team.

The Argentina Government paid for the accommodation, excursions and transport from Mendoza Airport from Mendoza Airport to the IOI venue and back. The delegations themselves had to pay for the airfares to and from the Mendoza Airport and for additional accommodation before and after the Olympiad. The only expense therefore for Ireland was the return airfares from Dublin to Mendoza for the delegation of one team leader and three student participants. Professor Ryan decided that Computer Applications Department of DCU would provide the funding for IOI 1993.

The students spend five hours each day for two days, with an interval of one day, in solving problems. Each participant worked independently on a personal computer. On the first day participants were asked to solve three problems chosen by the Jury from the set of problems that have been prepared by the Scientific Committee. On the second day, the choice was one from three problems, a more difficult prospect for the students. The problems are presented to the students in written form. The use of reference material was not restricted but the copying of the software to the computers, or the use other software or diskettes, was not allowed. Each student received the tasks in English and in their mother tongue which meant that the leader were expected to translate the tasks and be able to follow the discussions and debates which were in English.

One unusual aspect of the system that was in operation in 1993 is still in place today. During the first half hour, a contestant may ask a question, in writing, of his team leader who is outside the examination hall. The only answer the leader may give is “Yes", "No" or "No comment”. However developments in technology have meant that other systems, such as the marking system have changed dramatically.

Mr. Charlie Daly had a meeting with Dr. Michael A. Cotter on his return. He was of the opinion that Irish students could be found with the necessary computing skill and ability to compete successfully at the IOI. He was prepared to “do all the computer stuff” if Dr. Michael A. Cotter would manage, organise and fund Ireland’s participation in the IOI into the future. Professor Michael Ryan and the school of Computing staff were fully supportive of this venture and were prepared to put the facilities and services of the School of Computing at their disposal.

It was decided to hold a National Computer Programming Competition that would be open to all Post-Primary school students, male and female, from the Republic of Ireland and from Northern Ireland, an All Ireland event. This would be the mechanism for selecting the Irish Team to compete in the IOI. It would be modelled on the IOI and it required a sponsor. The ‘All Ireland’ element of the Olympiads became a feature of all the Olympiads.

Dr. Michael A. Cotter drew up a list of all the computer and computer related companies operating in Ireland. A phone call, made to IBM Ireland was answered by Ms. Pauline Knight, Public Relations which resulted in IBM agreeing to sponsor the “IBM/DCU All Ireland Schools Programming Competition” and Ireland’s participation in the International Olympiad in informatics in 1994. It was decided to invite young programmers and to award medals to students under 15, 16, 17, and 18 years of age.

All Ireland Schools Programming Competition & International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI)

The first IBM/DCU All Ireland Schools Programming Competition was held in DCU on April 1st -2nd 1994. Every Post-Primary School in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland received a package in early January, including the rules and regulations, the round one questions, a poster and an application form. Computimes, a supplement with the Irish Times also agreed to publish the Round 1 Questions in January. The students were informed that as well as trying to stimulate their interested in programming by independent and creative solving of problems the other aim of the competition was to select the National Team to represent Ireland at the 6th International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Sweden.

Over one hundred students replied and were invited to attend a two-day final at DCU. The event was modelled closely on the IOI itself consisted of two five hour practical tests, the first, in the afternoon of the first day and the second in the morning of the second day. Charlie Daly who designed the tasks also wrote a programme to test the solutions so that the results could be generated immediately.

The competition was very successful and a very high standard was achieved. At the closing ceremony Dr. Danny O’Hare, President of DCU, presented each finalist with a certificate. Professor Michael Ryan and Dr. O’Hare also presented gold, silver and bronze medals to the top students in the age categories Under 15, 16, 17 and 18.

Robert Beattie (Methodist College, Belfast) and Eoin Curran (High School, Rathgar, Co. Dublin) who won silver and bronze medals in the under 15 category, went on to represent Ireland and win medals in the 1995 IOI and the 1996 IOI. Noel O’Boyle, St. Muredach’s Colleges, Co. Mayo who won the under 16 gold medal represented Ireland and won a bronze medal in the 1997 IChO in Montreal, Canada. He also was conferred with a PhD on Computational Chemistry under the supervision of Professor Han Vos, DCU. His interests are in cheminformatician and computational chemistry in the prediction of physical, chemical or biological properties of small molecules.

The overall 1994 winners were:

Medal	Student	School/College
Gold	John Sullivan	Coláiste an Spioraid Naomh, Co. Cork
Silver	Brian Jones	Gonzaga College, Co. Dublin
Bronze	Hugh Larkin	Oatlands College, Co. Dublin
Bronze	Sean Kinsella	De La Salle College, Co. Wicklow

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Tomas MacGiolla and Mr. Paddy Moore, Managing Director, IBM Ireland presented these medals. Dr. Michael A. Cotter invited these high profile persons in the expectation that their presence would generate publicity in the media and increase the number of participants in future years.

Fifty-one countries were represented at the IOI in Sweden. Brian Jones won a Bronze medal and the other team members scored very highly. John Sullivan’s solution to one of the problems was deemed to be the best of the competition. Hugh Larkin and Sean Kinsella later studied computer science at DCU.

To help young programmers improve their computing skills and to prepare the Irish team members to compete more effectively in the IOI it was decided to hold a three week summer course for fifty students. This course was run jointly by the Computer Applications Department and the Centre for Talented Youth, Ireland (CTYI) also based in DCU.

The next three IBM/DCU All Ireland Schools Programming Competitions were held in DCU during the Easter holidays in 1995-1997. The format was similar to the first competition. The number of applicants and finalists remained constant and the standard of programming improved greatly with more girls taking part. This is mainly due to the “Summer Programming School” and the “Symbyosis Club”, an on-line computer club, managed by Mr. Charlie Daly.

The Lord Mayor of Dublin, Alderman Sean Dublin Bay Rockhall Loftus presented the medals to the students in 1995. Included among them was Ms. Aoife Cahill, St. Angela’s College, Co. Cork, who represented Ireland at the 1995 IOI in Eindhoven. She completed her BSc computing studies in DCU and under the supervision of Professor Josef van Genabith and Dr Andy Way and was conferred with a PhD in 2004. The title of her thesis is “Parsing with Automatically Acquired, Wide-Coverage, Robust, Probabilistic LFG Approximations”

Eoin Curran and Robert Beattie won bronze medals at the1995 IOI in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. On their return President Mary Robinson invited them with the other delegation members to Áras an Uachtaráin, the home of the President of Ireland.

Unfortunately, Eoin Curran, who had been involving with Irish computer programming since 1990 downed in a sailing accident in New York in July 2010 where he was working as a computer programmer with Google. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis.

The 1996 medals were presented by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Councillor Brendan Lynch and the 1997 awards were presented by Minister Richard Bruton TD.

All Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition & International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO)

Following the success of the IBM/DCU All Ireland Schools Programming Competition and the success of Irish students at the IOI, Dr. Michael A. Cotter decided to start the process of Ireland’s participation the at the International Biology, Chemistry and Physics Olympiad. Dr. O’Hare, President of DCU who has attended the award ceremonies of the Programming Competition in 1994 and 1995 expressed an interest in supporting such an undertaking. Dr. Michael A. Cotter chose to begin with Chemistry because Dr. O’Hare was himself a chemistry graduate. He briefed the President on the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) and was given a written proposed on how the selection process might proceed. He agreed to fund the initial phase thorough the President’s office and asked Dr. Michael A. Cotter to meet with the head of the School of Chemical Sciences, Professor Albert Pratt. This resulted in Dr. Odilla Finlayson being asked to accompany Dr. Michael A. Cotter to the 27th IChO in Beijing China on 12th-20th July 1995. While it was a requirement of membership of the IChO for a country to attend as an observer for two years, Dr. Finlayson’s duty was also to evaluate the level of difficulty of the tasks and to assess Ireland’s chances of achieving some level of success. If it were feasible Ireland would again observe at the 28th IChO in Moscow, Russia in 1996 with a view to full participation in the 1997 IChO in Montreal, Canada

The decision was made that Ireland should take part in the IChO so the 1st All Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition, modelled on the programming competition was held in DCU on March 30th 1996. Every Post-Primary School in Northern Ireland and in the Republic of Ireland received a package including the rules and regulations, the round one questions, a poster and an application form. The students were given four weeks to return the completed examination.

Forty-seven students replied and the top twenty were invited to attend a one-day final at DCU. The event consisted of a three hour written examination and a two-hour practical test.

The competition was very successful. Girls and boys were equally represented and a very high standard was achieved. Dr. Michael A. Cotter presented each finalist with a certificate and Dr. Danny O’Hare, President of DCU, presented medals to the top four students.

The medal winners were

Medal	Student	School/College
Gold	Conor Barry	C.B.S. Midleton, Co. Cork
Silver	David Fallaha	Foyle & Londonderry College, Co. Derry
Bronze	Conor Mulholland	St. Louis Grammer School, Co. Antrim
Bronze	Gary Coady	St. Kieran’s College, Co. Kilkenny

The students has been told that Ireland was not eligible to compete in the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) in 1966 but having sent observers in 1995 and 1996 would be entitled to send a team of four students to the 1997 IChO.

Because the IChO standard is higher than that required for Leaving Certificate Chemistry it was decided to hold the 1997 National competition two months earlier to give an opportunity to the team members to benefit from some “distance education” and some intensive training by the staff of the Chemistry Department.

The 2nd All-Ireland Schools Chemistry Competition was modelled more closely on the IChO itself. The event consisted of a five hour written examination and a five-hour practical test. All the Post-Primary Schools again received a package including the round one questions. They were also informed that as well as trying to stimulate the activities of students interested in chemistry by independent and creative solving of chemical problems the other aim of the competition was to select the National Team to represent Ireland at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Montreal, Canada on July.

Over seventy students responded. The top thirty, representing fifteen counties, were invited to the final, which took place over two days, 1st and 2nd February in DCU. Dr. David Nash, Science Inspector, Department of Education presented certificates to all participants and Dr. Danny O’Hare, President of DCU, presented medals to the top four students.

The medal winners were

Medal	Student	School/College
Gold	Dominic Cavlan	St. Patrick’s Academy, Co. Tyrone
Silver	Anthony O’Kane	St. Louis Grammer School, Co. Antrim
Bronze	Noel O’Boyle	St. Muredach’s Colleges, Co. Mayo
Bronze	*Neil Dobbs	Newtown School, Waterford

• Neil Dobbs was unable to travel to Montreal and was replaced on the team by Barry Hughes, St. Patrick’s Academy, Co. Tyrone.

Elaine Barker, St. Dominic’s College, Cabra, Co. Dublin achieved the highest mark in the Practical Test and the youngest competitor was Raja Mukherji, a Junior Certificate student at Drimnagh Castle, Co. Dublin. He represented Ireland at the 1999 IChO in Bangkok, Thailand and was awarded a silver medal. This was the second silver science Olympiad for Ireland. (Eoin Curran had won a silver IOI medal in 1997. Ireland’s only gold medal was won by Martin Orr, Methodist College, Belfast in 2003. Martin is possibly the only student to win a gold, silver and bronze medal in two International Olympiads, Mathematics and Informatics. As well as representing Ireland at the IOI, Martin also represented the UK in the IMO)

In mid February the team members were given a set of fifty preparatory questions and other relevant materials prepared by the Organising Committee. A support structure was put in place and the students were contacted on a regular basis.

A week long residential, intensive training programme was provided in the Chemistry Department by Professor Pratt, Dr. Forster and Dr. James at the end of June where all the theoretical and practical aspects of the IChO syllabus were covered in detail.

Fifty-two countries were represented at the International Chemistry Olympiad in Montreal. Noel O’Boyle won a bronze medal and Barry Hughes was awarded a Certificate of Honourable Mention. Noel’s final mark was the highest achieved by any student from Ireland and the United Kingdom. (Noel has been mentioned earlier as an under 16 medal winner at the 1996 IBM/DCU Programming Competition and a DCU, PhD graduate in Computational Chemistry)

The advancement of Chemistry as an area of study among our Post-Primary student population is the main reasons for promoting this academic Olympiad. Giving Irish students the opportunity to represent Ireland in their chosen academic subject at an International event is a primary objective.

The 1997 competitions were jointly sponsored by the Department of Education and Dublin City University.

Annual Schools Science Festival (ASSF)

Following the success of the All Ireland Programming and Chemistry Competitions Dr. Michael A. Cotter decided to establish the All Ireland Competitions in Biology and Physics next. However the idea of four competitions at different times of the year did not seem logical. In September 1997 he sent a proposal to the DCU President, Dr. Danny O’Hare, to the Professors of Biology, Chemistry, Computing and Physics and selected lecturers in each school proposing the establishment of the “Annual Schools Science Festival” (ASSF) at DCU.

This proposal outlined the benefits to DCU of the All Ireland Schools Competitions in Computer Programming and Chemistry and the success of Irish students at the IOI and IChO. The proposal envisaged a one day event, when between four and five hundred science secondary students from all thirty-two counties would converge on DCU to compete in an All Ireland competition in Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Computing programming and vie for places on the Irish teams at the IBO. IChO, IOI and IPhO.

The proposal got widespread approval and IBM decided to continue with its sponsorship, as did the Department of Education and Dublin City University. This led to a name change from the “Annual Schools Science Festival” to the “IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad”

All Ireland Schools Physics Competition & International Physics Olympiad (IPhO)

The first All Ireland Schools Physics Competition took place in DCU in 1998 as part of the IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad. Dr. David Vender, of the School of Physical Sciences, at the request of Dr. Michael A. Cotter had attended the 28th IPhO in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada in July 1997 as an observer thus fulfilling the requirement of the IPhO, which allowed Ireland attend with a full delegation at the 28th IPhO in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1998. The statute of the IPhO state that any country participating in the Olympiad must be invited by the host country and up to this time, all countries that had sent observers were invited the following year. However six new countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, India, Ireland, Mongolia and Turkmenistan) sent observers and wished to join in 1998 bringing the total to sixty-four participating countries. The budget for the1998 IPhO was based on only fifty-eight participating nations. While this is an internal Icelandic problem every effort was made by the author to ensure that Ireland received an invitation.

Ireland did receive an invitation to the 29th International Physics Olympiad in Reykjavik. Iceland has around 270,000 inhabitants, with approximately 100,000 living in Reykjavik making Iceland the smallest nation ever to host the International Physics Olympiad (IPhO).

The competition itself was held in the Laugardalshöll sports dome, which was the venue for the historical chess duel between Fischer and Spasski in 1972, the 1995 World Handball Championships, and the 1997 Summer Games of the Small States of Europe. Since 1998 Irish students have been awarded nine bronze IPhO medals and fourteen Honourable Mention certificates.

All Ireland Schools Biology Competition & International Biology Olympiad (IBO)

The first All Ireland Schools Biology Competition took place in DCU in 1998 as part of the IBM/DCU Irish Science Olympiad and a National team was selected to represent Ireland at the 8th International Biology Olympiad in Kiel, Germany.

Ireland should have sent an observer to the 7th IBO in Aschabat, Turkmenistan in July 1997. Dr. Michael A. Cotter asked Professor Richard O Kennedy to attend and plans were made to travel but securing a visa proved insurmountable. As a result Ireland did not fulfil its obligations to the IBO and should not have been able to attend the 1998 IBO. Immediately after the event, an email of apology was sent by Dr. Michael A. Cotter to the IBO Coordinating Centre in Prague explaining the difficulty experienced by Ireland in securing a Visa to Turkmenistan and asking that Ireland be allowed attend with a full delegation the following year. At the 12thmeeting of the IBO coordinators in the IBO centre in Prague, with the support of the 1998 IBO Director, Dr. Eckhard Lucius (Germany) Moldavia, Korea and Ireland were approved as regular participants of the 9th IBO. This was confirmed by email.

Two students, both from Northern Ireland, Mark Bridgman, Ballyclare High School, Rashee Rd., Co. Antrim and Alison Walker, Ballymena Academy, Co. Antrim were awarded bronze 1998 IBO medals in Kiel. The following year, all four Irish students were awarded bronze IBO medals.

References

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/young-scientists-in-race-at-olympiads-1.179417

http://aipo.computing.dcu.ie/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIwMurzZ-X2QIV4ZXtCh2n7g8UEAAYASAAEgJggvD_BwE

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/three-irish-students-win-bronze-in-international-chemistry-contest-1.3156530

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/education/globetrotting-for-science-1.135578

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/science-awards-for-irish-students-1.239979

48th IChO Tbilisi, Georgia, 23 July - 01 August, 2016: http://www.icho2016.chemistry.ge/

http://www.makeeoinproud.com/mini-book

ISO 2008-09 : https://www.dcu.ie/news/2009/feb/s0209f.shtml

NISO 2010: http://www.dcu.ie/news/2010/mar/s0310j.shtml

ISO 2010: http://www.dcu.ie/news/2010/apr/s0410m.shtml

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