Pictured receiving the eir Junior Spiders Award best group project were Jade Lynch and Aoife Taite from Our Lady’s School, Templeogue Rd, Terenure with group project ‘AJ’s Garden’, via Conor McCabe Photography
Pictured receiving the eir Junior Spiders Award for Best Group Project are Jade Lynch and Aoife Taite from Our Lady’s School, Templeogue Rd, Terenure with group project ‘AJ’s Garden’. Image via  Conor McCabe Photography

Winners abound at the 2016 Junior Spider Awards

26 Apr 2016

The 2016 winners of the Eir-backed Junior Spider Awards – dedicated to lauding young internet enthusiasts – have been announced, with a few recognisable faces making the grade.

Croke Park hosted this year’s Junior Spiders yesterday (25 April), with anyone aged four to 19 from all over the country free to compete for prizes. The main winners on a day of accolades were Cool STEAM Kids (four-to-12 age category), Gaeilge Iontach (13-15) and a project by VT Networks (16-19).

Launched at last year’s Inspirefest by former EU Digital Girl of the Year Lauren Boyle, Cool STEAM Kids is a STEM promotional tool for kids. The website and app uses games, kits, books, links, videos and experiments to promote STEM subjects to schoolkids.

Gaeilge Iontach took home three prizes, with the Grand Prix complemented by Best Concept and Suiomh is Fearr awards.

Created by Laura Cosgrave, Gaeilge Iontach is a learning resource for the Irish language, aimed at children in first to fourth class. Featuring games, images, audio and text, Cosgrave’s project is available to use at home and in school.

The older category saw a web design for IoT start-up VT Networks topping the bill. It was custom designed and built from scratch using HTML, CSS and JavaScript.

Interestingly-named projects like ‘Don’t pass the raspberry jam’, Dottie Duck and 1916 Mario joined Youth Tech, Teen DIY, AJ’s Garden and Artists and Articles in picking up separate awards.

Other winners included Codeway, Donabate Community College and the Digital Youth Council.

“Having seen firsthand the talent and sheer brilliance of some of the entries, I can honestly say you have very bright futures ahead of you,” said Eir’s John Anslow.

Gordon Hunt
By Gordon Hunt

Gordon Hunt joined Silicon Republic in October 2014 as a journalist. He spends most of his time avoiding conversations about music, appreciating even the least creative pun and rueing the day he panicked when meeting Paul McGrath. His favourite thing on the internet is the ‘Random Article’ link on Wikipedia.

Loading now, one moment please! Loading