Mayo student receives national coding award

A SOUTH Mayo student was to the fore at the annual National Scratch Coding Competition, organised by Lero, the Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software and the Irish Computer Society.

Niall McNamara from Taugheen National School in Claremorris was among the prize winners at the 2024 scratch finals, which took place in University of Limerick.

Now in its 14th year, the competition sees Ireland’s best young coders from primary and post-primary schools present their projects to the competition judges, with the keynote address given by BT Young Scientist winner 2024, Seán O’Sullivan.

Niall was a category winner for his game entitled Balloon Popper, which allowed players to burst balloons using an arrow.

Said Lero’s education and public engagement manager, Dr. Clare McInerney: “Software is everywhere, it is all around us and it has never been so important that children and young people learn not just how to use it but also how it works. At Lero, we support software skills at every stage of education. It is part of our mission to foster and grow coding skills and computational thinking among younger children, teens, and those far older.

“What we witness at the culmination of the National Scratch Competition Finals is the payoff of months of hard graft by the contestants, their teachers and families. And let me tell you, it’s awe-inspiring.

“Their projects are an amazing combination of science, technology, imagination and ingenuity - showing off just how much fun coding can be. It leaves me wondering what these finalists will do next?”

Visit https://www.scratch.ie/ for more information about Scratch and the Scratch competition.