Three young computer whizzes from Mayo showed off their puzzle cracking, coding skills in Goodle headquarters in Dublin for the first Google Call to Code competition.
The county’s three top young coders were Finghin Little (13 ), from Claremorris and a student of St Louis Community School, Kiltimagh, Eoin Moran, (14 ) from Balla and a student of St Peter’s College, and Ciaran Flanagan (15 ), from Claremorris and a student of Coláiste Cholmáin.
The three battled it out with 2,500 other students in the first round of the competition in April and won themselves the coveted places in the final with 37 other contestants.
Speaking at the event Tanaiste Eamon Gilmore said the talent and the ingenuity of its people is what makes companies like Google invest in Ireland. “We - Government and industry together - must continue to develop that talent. I am pleased to see Google playing their part,” he said.
“We all know the strategic importance of the ICT sector to Ireland. It accounts for over €70 billion in exports every year. There are 44,500 job openings forecast to arise between now and 2018 in the sector. Initiatives such as Call to Code are to be welcomed for encouraging an interest in this area and providing the opportunity to test student skills.”
