Milk project wins school its second scientist gong

TWO young farmers’ sons beat off the challenge of more than 500 other projects from schools on both sides of the border to win this year’s BT Young Scientists of the Year award.

John O’Callaghan, 14, and Liam McCarthy, 13, scooped a top prize of €5,000, a trophy and the chance to represent Ireland at the EU Young Scientist competition later this year.

Judges said it was a “clear decision”.

The boys developed a convenient test method for somatic cell count, showing its importance in milk production.

The win will cause major celebrations at their school, Kinsale Community College in Co Cork.

Four years ago Aisling Judge, a pupil at the same school, won the competition for developing an indicator to show when packaged food was gone off.

This year’s individual award went to Andrei Triffo, from Synge Street CBS, Dublin for his project entitled Infinite Sums of Zeta Functions and Other Dirichlet Series. He received €2,400 and a BT Perpetual Trophy.

The award for group runner-up went to Rhona Togher, Eimear O’Carroll and Niamh Chapman from Ursuline College, Sligo.

They received €1,200 and a BT Perpetual trophy for their project entitled The Sound of Silence — An Investigation into Low Frequency Therapy for Tinnitus Sufferers.

Henry Glass, Clongowes Wood College, Co Kildare scooped the individual runner-up award and €1,200 for his project which focussed on the distribution of the freshwater limpet on the Moneycarragh River.

A commemorative award in memory of the late Fr Tom Burke — one of the founders of the exhibition, who died last March — was won by Tommy Collison, Castletroy College, Co Limerick.

* The full list of projects awarded first, second and third prizes in junior, intermediate and senior categories for groups and individual entrants will be published in Monday’s Irish Examiner.