Address by the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms. Mary Coughlan, T.D., at the official opening of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition 2010

Wednesday, 13 January 2010

It gives me great pleasure to be with you this afternoon to open what is, undoubtedly, one of our most treasured annual national events, the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition. It is an exciting few days for all of you who I know have put so much work into developing your ideas and succeeding in getting them to the floor here in the RDS. At the outset, I want to congratulate you on that achievement. I also want to acknowledge the many students that submitted projects but weren’t successful in getting to this stage in the competition, on this occasion. The large number of high quality entries from across the country is a reflection of the striking abilities of your generation. It is also a reflection of the success and ever growing popularity of the BT Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

It is forty-six years since the first exhibition took place in the Mansion House. It was a truly visionary idea at the time and I want to acknowledge and pay particular tribute to Dr. Tony Scott, who together with the late Father Tom Burke, founded the exhibition. What their initiative in 1964 has done to highlight the sciences and the talent hidden in our schools across the island is remarkable. Their foresight and their encouragement for innovative thinking in our school-going generations has played no small part in the fostering of an ever-expanding research and development culture in Ireland, a concept that now finds clear voice in the Smart Economy framework, which sets out the future direction for economic development and job creation in Ireland.

BT has played a huge role in the growth and expansion of the exhibition over the past decade. I want to thank Chris Clarke for that contribution as they mark ten years as principal sponsor of the exhibition. Their contribution, together with that of others including RTÉ, Intel and Analog Devices, is essential to the successful running and ongoing development and expansion of the exhibition from year to year. Two particular new initiatives I would like to welcome this year are the addition of a Northern Ireland award for the first time, which reflects the level of interest in the competition from schools north of the border, and the addition of the BT Business of Science and Technology Programme, where I understand workshops and master-classes are to be provided on the business of going from concept to finished product.

Of course the exhibition would not be at all possible without the enthusiastic support and commitment of teachers and parents across the country. Undoubtedly, it is the education you receive and the environment in your local school and in your home that equips you with the skills and confidence to be here today. Those of us of an older generation can look back and acknowledge the impact that parents and teachers have in our formative years, particularly as we educate ourselves and start to choose a path for our future careers. I think therefore that this afternoon we should show, with a round of applause, our appreciation for the role our teachers and parents have played in getting you to this point and in making this 2010 exhibition a success.

This week is also an exciting week for the spectators that will come through those doors in their thousands over the coming days. Why do they come? Because they know that by visiting the exhibition they get to witness Ireland’s researchers, scientists and entrepreneurs of the future at work. They get a glimpse of what is to come, not just in terms of the individual ideas on display, but in terms of the capacity and ability of the next generation. This event is a truly exceptional demonstration of Ireland’s young brainpower. You may think I am exaggerating, but you genuinely do represent the future of this country and the future of our economy.

In that context I am delighted to be on stage with John and Liam, last year’s winners, not just of this competition but of the EU Young Scientist of the Year Award. Their winning of the EU-wide award was a truly outstanding achievement for the boys and, indeed, for the country. They are two remarkable winners and an inspiration to all of us, as they reaffirm my belief in our economy’s future as one that can be led by success in science, technology and innovation.

In Government, even in these more difficult times, we are continuing to invest significantly in the areas of science, technology and innovation. It is through making this investment now that we see we can create jobs for you and your classmates here at home in Ireland in the future. Our goal is for Ireland to become a world leader in research, development and innovation in our chosen sectors in the years ahead. We also want to build stronger relationships between the science and enterprise systems, ensuring that we can not only generate new and exciting ideas, but that those ideas result in jobs by developing or contributing to new products and services that people will want to use every day.

Ireland today has a significant and growing record of excellence in scientific research and development. Through significant investment and sustained commitment we have become a global hub for many international technology companies, employing thousands of people. We are also growing a significant number of indigenous companies who are at the cutting edge of world developments in their particular field. We need to continuing building on this initial success however and events such as the Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition are vital in creating awareness of the importance of this sector to you, our school going generation.

This is important, as to achieve all our aims and ambitions for Ireland’s future as the “Innovation Island” with a smart economy, we need your help. We need you and your classmates to continue your studies in maths and in the sciences, in particular. We need you to know that science, technology and innovation is Ireland’s future trajectory. We need you to know that your Government is investing heavily in that future. We need you to know that that the skills, the basics of which you are demonstrating here this week, are those that will be the skills needed to secure the jobs of tomorrow. We need you here in the RDS, those that obviously have that important spark of interest to spread the word; to talk to your classmates; to talk to your guidance teachers; to invite some of the exciting companies involved in research and development in your area to your classroom; and to find out more about the way Ireland’s enterprise and job-creation base has evolved in recent years.

It is a challenge that I very much hope you will embrace on your return to your schools next week. If we can elevate some of the innovative thinking on display in the RDS this week to the science and technology laboratories across Ireland in a decade’s time, the future of this country will be very bright indeed.

This competition demands hard work and persistence. It means learning new skills and putting in extra effort and long hours. It requires teaching and organising as well as learning and doing. For that reason, I again want to congratulate you on your efforts and I want to thank your teachers, parents, the judges and the many other sponsors who generously commit resources to this event. I will finish by wishing all participants good luck and may you all enjoy the experience and learn much about all sorts of scientific concepts and principles over the course of the next few days.

Thank you.

Ends/ETE2149