Cork schools are well represented at All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad

There was plenty of Cork representation at the National Final of 18th All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO), hosted by the ADAPT Centre at Dublin City University (DCU) last week.

Students from Ashton School, Bandon Grammar School, Christ King Girls’ Secondary School, Christian Brothers College Cork, Mount Mercy College and St Colman’s Community College attended the national final.

The four winners from the All-Ireland competition will go on represent Ireland at the International Linguistics Olympiad in July and this will be held in Taipei, Taiwan.

Run by ADAPT, the world leading Research Ireland Centre for AI-Driven Digital Content Technology, this contest challenges secondary school students to apply logic and reasoning skills to solve complex puzzles.

The competition also is a challenge that tests the ability of the students to think differently, analyse data and decipher rules from the unknown.

Overall, 104 national finalists came through the preliminary rounds held in January. More than 3,500 students registered for the contest this year, competing in individual and team rounds.

All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad challenges secondary school students to test their minds against the world’s most fascinating problems in logic, language and linguistics.

One of its primary objectives is to develop the problem-solving skills of students, while also encouraging students to consider the range of careers in the areas of computing, linguistics and language.

New training materials and a brochure have been produced thanks to funding from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media in cooperation with Northern Ireland scheme.

Professor John D Kelleher, director of ADAPT, praised the finalists describing the analytical skills displayed by students as “truly inspiring". 

"We are very proud of this competition which exemplifies the passion we have for fostering the next generation of thinkers and innovators,” he said.

The results of the All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad National Final will be released next week.