Today (Tuesday 20 October 2026), the Central Statistics Office (CSO) is delighted to host an Awards Ceremony for students from around the country who took part in our competitions throughout the year.
Today we celebrate the winners of the Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data at the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition (Stripe YSTE), the CSO Special Award at the Young Economist of the Year, and the John Hooper Statistical Poster Competition. The ceremony is being held in the RDS today from 12 noon.
Eoghan Conroy from Dún Laoghaire, Dublin is 18 years old and in sixth year in CBC Monkstown Park, Dún Laoghaire, Co. Dublin. His winning project was an analysis of how well Irish households manage their financial investments. It used a constructed stochastic model with time-varying volatility to simulate and compare representative household portfolios derived from CSO data against theoretically optimal counterparts.
He said the project developed his understanding of statistical analysis, econometrics, and programming. The project was also a source of invaluable experience in the iterative process of analytical investigation as a whole.
On winning the award he said: “It was exciting and highly rewarding to have my analysis recognised by the CSO, as well as to have had the insightful opportunity to speak to some of their statisticians about the project and how to develop it further.”
Eoghan is considering a career in or adjacent to the field of econometrics and/or statistics.
Kate Meehan, Sephie Hamilton, Alexandra Borza, and Reuben Sadat are sixth year students from The Institute of Education, Leeson street, Dublin. They won the Award of the Use of Open Data at the Young Economist of the Year 2026. Their project examined why increased government spending on housing in Ireland has not led to the same level of improvement in supply, affordability, and homelessness. They used national data, surveys, interviews, and looked at Finland’s approach.
On winning the award, they said: “It feels amazing to win the CSO Award, especially because CSO data played such a big role in our project. It was nice to see all the work we put into it being recognised.”
Looking ahead, Kate would like to pursue a career in finance, Sephie would like to pursue a career in becoming a commercial airline pilot, Alexandra would also like to pursue a career in finance, while Reuben would like to pursue a career in dentistry.
Katie Zheng from Laytown, Co. Meath is 16 years old and in 5th year at The Institute of Education, Leeson street, Dublin. She won the John Hooper Medal for Statistics for her poster: “Policy vs Practice: Projected Impact of Ireland’s Vape Tax and Flavour Ban”. She was presented with a silver medal and a cash prize of €1,000. She also won €1,000 for her school.
When asked about her win, Katie said: “It was incredibly surprising, and I had no idea that I would end up coming first! I was thrilled to do well in the competition as I had spent a long time on the analysis.”
Her winning poster was a projected analysis of the outcome of the planned Government bill to restrict E-liquid products, such as vapes. It looks at whether the increased tax and planned flavour ban will contribute to public health outcomes such as a reduction in vape purchases. Her win at national level meant she was eligible to represent Ireland in the Senior Category of the European Statistics Competition.
Katie would love to pursue a career in law, especially within jurisprudence.
Second prize in the John Hooper competition went to Suzie Hynes and Lily Casey, of Mary Immaculate Secondary School, Lisdoonvarna, Co. Clare for their poster: “Quartz in the Burren”. They won a shared cash prize of €650 while their school received €650.
Third prize in the John Hooper Competition was awarded to Grace Dolan, Ciara Lappin, and Ellen Madden of Moate Community School, Moate, Co. Meath. They came third for their poster: “More than Make Up – the Struggle of Female Athletes”. They share a cash prize of €400 and won €400 for their school.
The runners-up in the John Hooper Competition were also honored for their projects. All of today’s winners and runners-up received a framed certificate to mark their achievements.
Presenting the awards, Assistant Director General of the CSO, Maria Hurley, praised all those who entered the competitions for thinking about new ways to show how data and statistics can be used to inform our lives
“Every year we see a very high standard of entries for the CSO Competitions and Awards. Students consistently demonstrate creativity, initiative and original thinking by exploring a vast range of subjects all joined by the uniting factor of using data and statistics to illuminate our understanding of the world around us.
The 2026 competition falls on European Statistics Day and it is very timely as engaging with students, teachers and parents on the use of CSO statistics is central to our Vision of Independent Insight for All. We are always hugely encouraged by students’ use of CSO statistics and these competitions are an important opportunity to recognise these efforts. We are very grateful to all this years’ students for their entries, and especially to the parents and teachers who have supported their work.
As the competitions go from strength to strength, we are already gearing up for next year’s awards and I would encourage anyone interested in applying to visit CSO.ie to see how to enter.”
The goal of the CSO’s John Hooper competition is to improve students' abilities to describe, explore, and investigate their environment using statistics. This national competition, now in its sixteenth year, is open to individuals and to teams of two or three students, aged up to 19 years old.
The competition is named in recognition of Cork man John Hooper, who was the first Director of Statistics for the newly formed Irish State, Saorstát Éireann, in 1923. Until his untimely death in 1930 at the age of just 51, Mr. Hooper shaped the development of official statistics in Ireland. His work led to the development of new statistics, such as the first Census of Population and Census of Industrial Production in 1926, and the 1926 Statistics Act.
The Award for the Best Use of CSO Open Data at the Young Scientist Exhibition is now in its twelfth year. This competition aims to encourage young people to use open data. Open data is data that can be accessed, used, or shared. Governments, businesses, and individuals can use open data to bring about social, economic, and environmental benefits.
The award is for the most innovative use, or potential use, of CSO data, whether it is in statistical analyses, processes or outputs, a piece of research, a visualisation, a data map, the development of a device, a software application, or the use of CSO data in any other innovative way.
The YEOTY National Awards are organised by Oide. The CSO is proud to partner with YEOTY as a sponsor of the Medal for the Best Use of Data. The YEOTY invites students to explore real-life issues by submitting projects on any area of economics, but projects must refer to at least one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (Economic, Social, or Environmental goals).
-- ENDS --
Editor's Note
For further information or interview requests for any of the winners contact:
Marketing, Graphic Design and Events Manager, Ken Kennedy on (+353) 21 453 5036 or email: information@cso.ie