SCHOOLS across West Cork are celebrating after last week’s Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition with some coming home with awards, while others had their projects highly commended by judges.

Afric Deasy from Bandon, a fifth-year student at Kinsale Community School, won the Oracle Academy Award for her project Sherlock: An improved universal AI Model for the automatic evaluation of bias in news media. She was presented with the award by Orla Lawton, senior marketing manager at Oracle.

The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Awards
Biological and Ecological Sciences Category, presented by Amgen.
Ray McGrath, Chair of the Judging Panel from Stripe, presents the 3rd Intermediate Group Award to Cathal Murphy and Tom Kingston, from Árdscoil Uí Urmoltaigh, Bandon, County Cork, for the project “Is Lung Capacity the Key? Assessing Differences in Physiological Attributes Between Students on a School GAA Team and Those Who Are Not.”

Afric also secured third place in the Senior Individual category for the same project. Afric used her own original code to give effect to her design concept and produced an app which analyses news media text providing a set of criteria and an objective scoring scale for quantifying the incidence and signifiers of bias.

Stand 1530.
Pictured are students Martha O'Leary, Zach Camier and Caoilainn Cash from Schull Community College in Cork, with their project, 'The Great Germination Showdown- Polythene vs Seaweed Bioplastics and their effects on growing crops', at the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition.

There were more wins for the Kinsale school as Ella Holly and Grace Holland were placed second in the Junior Group (Social & Behavioural Sciences) for their project which found school phone pouches reduced screen time by 10%.

They found that the introduction of phone pouches in schools has led to a 10% decrease in students’ weekend screen time. Cushla O’Reilly, Caoimhe Ní Charragáin and Elise O’Sullivan were awarded third place for their project: Numbers Don’t Discriminate.

Stand 1222.
Pictured is student Seanan Ward from Skibbereen Community School in Cork, with his project, 'Brew, Reuse, Renew', at the 2026 Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition .

Their fellow students, Miah O’Callaghan and Peter Leahy were placed second in the Senior Group (Biological & Ecological) for their project on Soleus – the forgotten knee muscle and its link to anterior cruciate ligament injuries.

Cathal Murphy and Tom Kingston from Hamilton High School in Bandon picked up third place in the Intermediate Biological and Ecological category for their project Is lung capacity the key? which looked at assessing differences in physiological attributes between students on a school GAA team and those who are not.

Sam Mahon, Connor Kingston and Charlie Hart from Mount St Michael, Rosscarberry, Co Cork, showcasing their project on day one of the 2026 Stripe YSTE. Over 1,000 students presenting 550 projects will compete for more than 200 prizes, with one individual or team named Stripe Young Scientist & Technologist of the year.
Photo Chris Bellew / Fennell Photography 2026

St Mary’s Secondary School in Macroom had several students performing very well at the exhibition. Junior Cert student Aine O’Leary won a Display Award for her project titled Reserved for a Reason: Exploring public perception and misuse of disabled persons parking spaces and permits, with proposed solutions.’

The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Awards
Biological and Ecological Sciences Category, presented by Amgen.
Ray McGrath, Chair of the Judging Panel from Stripe, presents the 2nd Senior Group Award to Miah O’Callaghan and Peter Leahy, from Kinsale Community School, County Cork, for the project “Soleus – The Forgotten Knee Muscle? Is Its Neglect Contributing to an Increase in Incidence of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury in Ireland?” Stand No 1605.

Amy White and Chloe Lehane were placed second in the Senior Group (Social & Behavioural Sciences) for their project: Likes vs Rights: Should family vloggers be subject to child labour laws?, while TY students Réaltín Walsh, Isabelle Roberts and Siún O’Connor were Highly Commended for their project Counting the cost of clean water: An investigation into the social, environmental and economical cost of frequent boil water notices in Macroom.

Second year students, Jenny Duggan and Aoibhínn Kelleher also won a Highly Commended award for their project Scroll, swipe, forget? The effects of screentime on adolescent memory.

The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Awards
Social and Behavioural Sciences Category, presented by Kerrygold.
Ray McGrath, Chair of the Judging Panel from Stripe, presents the 3rd Junior Group Award to Caoimhe Ní Charragáin, Cushla O’Reilly and Elise O’Sullivan, from Kinsale Community School, County Cork, for the project “Numbers Don’t Discriminate – The Curriculum Does! How Can We Solve the Equation and Create a Fair Maths Education for Every Student?” Stand No 3406.

Other projects of note included Kinsale students’ Emily Bertoletti, Annabel Long and Nora Lynch’s statistical analysis of assessing modifiable risk factors for dementia, and Kinsale student Cathal Murray’s project analysing ear versus sight in learning traditional Irish music.

The Stripe Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition 2026 Awards
Social and Behavioural Sciences Category, presented by Kerrygold.
Ray McGrath, Chair of the Judging Panel from Stripe, presents the 2nd Senior Group Award to Amy White and Chloe Lehane, from St Mary’s Secondary School Macroom, County Cork, for the project “Likes vs Rights: Should Family Vloggers Be Subject to Child Labour Laws?” Stand No 3602.

Jan O’Longphuirt of Mount St Michael in Rosscarbery considered how using thermo-electrics during a workout could generate enough electric energy from body heat to charge a mobile phone. Another project from the same school highlighted the need for changes to the Free School Books scheme. A team from De La Salle College in Macroom considered how to design a safer alternative to manhole covers in a slated slurry tank.

Minister Christopher O’Sullivan praised the ‘breadth and quality’ of the projects on display by West Cork students.