Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair sweep two creative technology awards in Dublin

Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair scooped two awards at The Kinia Creative Technology Award Ceremony which took place at The Foundry in Dublin.

The award ceremony celebrating excellence in a range of digital and STEAM projects saw Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair win an award for their brilliant robot project entitled Cú an Robait, and also an award for Splanc’s 'Sí Sí Sí' gael-punk musical project by Aoibhín Ní Ghallachóir, which showcases amazing talent from the Donegal punk band and band member, who directed their video. 

This is Aoibhin’s first video, inspired by the craic and fun of Madness's Baggy Trousers, and her talent for video editing and directing is clearly something very special. This, paired with Splanc's musical skill, makes for a great Gael-Punk piece of work.

Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair are long-time members of the Kinia Community, having completed training, taken part in events and even had lots of success at these events over the years. The school has always had a huge interest in STEAM and production projects were once again evident at the event again this year.

Over 600 of Ireland’s future engineering and digital change-makers gathered at The Foundry in Google’s EMEA HQ in Dublin to attend key events as part of Kinia’s Creative Technology Week which took place from April 15 - 22.

Now in its 11th year, Kinia’s Creative Technology Week includes bilingual events, welcoming guests working in all types of youth focussed organisations and roles, including teachers, family resource centre professionals, youth workers and young people aged between 12-18 years. The events showcase the incredible creative technology projects young people throughout Ireland have been working on all year, in the areas of STEAM, Digital Media and Computer Science. 

Young people enjoyed a full programme of interactive workshops and maker space activities including the highlight of the event for many - the Kinia Hydrogen Grand Prix (H2GP) Competition, the culmination of a programme which challenges tomorrow’s young innovators to design, engineer, build and race their own hydrogen-powered cars (using kits sent out to participating schools and youth organisations in advance). Throughout the H2GP programme, these future leaders develop the creativity, ingenuity and real-world problem-solving skills needed to tackle tomorrow’s energy challenges.

Kinia’s Creative Technology Week culminated with two flagship events hosted at Google in The Foundry located in Dublin. Tech Féile on Friday, April 19 an all-Irish event, and Creative Tech Fest on Saturday, April 20, a bilingual event, marking a now annual celebration of creative technology in Ireland, for young people and those working in schools and youth-focused organisations. 

“We’re once again delighted with the response to Creative Technology Week, now a nationally recognised celebration of Creative Technology here in Ireland, and to see such an abundance of talent displayed at both this year’s Tech Féile and Creative Tech Fest events,” Marianne Checkley, CEO of Kinia said.

“Sadly, not all young people across Ireland have access to the same learning opportunities – and education inequality can limit their potential. At Kinia, our mission is to empower educators to equip young people with much-needed, future focused skills to truly unlock that potential. We have an ambitious target for 2024 – to upskill over 2,000 educators and lift barriers to learning opportunities for no less than 11,000 young people who need extra support to connect with reference points for future careers. 

“We are very grateful to Google for hosting the events and to all our generous partners and funders who support us throughout the year. We were delighted to welcome them to the events over the weekend, so they could experience the impact of their support.”

The week ended with the Kinia Creative Technology Award Ceremony where excellence in a range of digital and STEM projects was celebrated. The events were MC’d by seasoned presenters Micheál O’Ciaraidh (TG4) and Aindriú De Paor (2FM).