Two students from Cork have been crowned the winners of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.
Ian O'Sullivan and Eimear Murphy from Colaiste Treasa in Kanturk claimed the prize for their project 'Alcohol consumption: Does the apple fall far from the tree?'.
The winners were announced by Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan at an awards ceremony in the RDS in Duiblin last night.
Speaking about the winning entry, judge Professor Ian Robertson, said: "Using sophisticated statistical analysis, the students discovered that teenagers whose parents believe that it is acceptable for their children to drink alcohol on special occasions are up to four times more likely to engage in hazardous drinking than other adolescents."
"They also discovered that fathers' drinking levels were a major factor in teenagers’ excessive drinking. Fathers’ attitudes to alcohol are crucial in shaping drinking of both boys and girls, but if mothers disapprove of their teenagers drinking, this can halve their risk of hazardous drinking. The message from this research can help shape family alcohol behaviour in a very positive way into the future."
The winners received a cheque for €5,000 and will now go on to represent Ireland at the 27th European Union Young Scientist competition taking place in September in Milan.
Afterwards, Ian and Eimear explained what their project was about:
In all, approximately 1,200 students from across the island of Ireland covering 550 projects from 206 schools competed.
Meanwhile, the exhibition continues today for a fourth and final day.
And BT Ireland CEO Colm O'Neill is hoping this year will break attendance records.
