Cork robotics teams heading to US for VEX world championships

Kinsale Community School is celebrating success at the recent VEX Robotics Ireland National Championships at Munster Technological University Cork.

Competing against the country’s leading robotics programmes, four teams from the secondary school secured the Excellence Award, Design Award, Tournament Champions, and two Tournament Finalists.

The school will now send four teams to the VEX Robotics World Championships in St Louis, USA, next month, the largest number ever sent by a single Irish school. Of the seven Irish teams qualifying for the World Championships, four are from the Kinsale school.

Since September 2025, the school has formally embedded Ireland’s first junior cycle short course in robotics into its timetable.

Second-year student Riva O’Reilly said: “Working on VEX Robotics has been a fantastic experience — building and programming our robot, working as a team, and growing in confidence. It’s been a blast.”

Deputy principal Kathleen O’Brien said: “Robotics at KCS is about building confidence, creativity, and resilience. These results reflect years of vision, commitment, and belief in what our students can achieve.”