ROBOCUP 2006
Which St. Aidan's pupils have commanded a full page spread in The Irish Times, two articles
and photographs in the Northside People and a mention on the RTE news in the past 6 moths or
so? The answer...Aaron Kennedy, Andrew Jordan, Eoin Me Cormac and Kevin Reilly. For what, you
may ask? For Robocup, of course. And what on earth is Robocup??? Ah well., read on....
Robocup is a national competition where Irish transition year students battle it out in three
competitions involving robots. The extraordinary thing is that the robots are fully automated
and are programmed to respond to things like light, not like the good old remote control ones
from a generation previous. In 2006 St Aidan's were successful in the rescue robot category,
beating off stiff opposition from schools all over Ireland, and represented the country with
pride in the World Championships in Bremen, Germany.
There they distinguished themselves, finishing in the top half of the competition and winning
a design prize, no mean feat for a country making its maiden appearance at this competition.
The enthusiasm and experience shown at the championships by robotic superpowers like Iraq and
China will only have helped and inspired the lads, and being in Germany while it hosted the
Soccer World Cup was something they and their accompanying teacher Mr. Deneher will not forget.
Preparations for the the 2007 competition have begun, and congratulations to Ciaran Tuohy,
Sadiqur Rahman, Darren O'Connell and Owen Corrigan who will represent St. Aidan's. No doubt the
achievement of their predecessors will be a huge inspiration to them, and robotic advice will
be freely available whenever they need it!
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Public Speaking/ Debating
The national AIB Phil 'Speaks' Competition continued to be a debating forum in which St.
Aidan's debaters found themselves enjoying considerable success. Karl Elliott, Paul Blanchfield,
Cathal Ormond, Robert Ryan, Cathal Gavin, David E. Doyle, Andrew Linn and Anthony Madden spoke
on a wide variety of topics from Islam to Global warming. Brilliant oratory was heard from
Cathal Ormond whose anti-terrorist tirade was worthy of Cato the Elder whilst Karl Elliott spoke
passionately on the environment It was the fine speeches of Anthony Madden and Andrew Linn that
convinced the adjudicators and they made it through to the second round, coming an impressive
second and third out of over one hundred speakers.
These same two speakers distinguished themselves in DCU Access debate in March also, winning
and securing cash prizes for both.
Meanwhile, the E.U. are celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome and held a
public speaking competition forTY pupils in January and February. Craig O'Hare, Andrew Salter
and Karl Elliott spoke about emigration and environment policies within the union, winning their
heat and reaching the Dublin Finals. There, they were narrowly defeated by the eventual
All-Ireland champions and Karl received a special award for best speaker. As a bonus, they got
to show esteemed guests such as Proinsias De Rossa, Gay Mitchell and Mary Lou McDonald how to
speak! (see picture).
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St Aidan's CBS, Whitehall, Dublin, Ireland
