LORETO COMMUNITY SCHOOL in Milford was celebrating today as the €150,000 prize today – despite anti-austerity protestors holding a protest outside.
At least two eggs were thrown at the Taoiseach Enda Kenny when he was a special guest today.
But the real reason for the visit was not lost on the school.
Mr Kenny was there to present a €150,000 prize of computers won by 5th year student Shaun Sweeny.
Next term all first year students will be given digital laptops and tablets to store all their school textbooks.
The SmartClass competition was run by Intel, the Educational Company of Ireland and Steljes.
Mr Kenny told students in the sports hall at the school: “You are leading the way in the digital age and I want to congratulate you on this.
“It is a superb initiative and I am delighted to be here to support you in it.”
TDs Dinny McGinley, Joe McHugh and Charlie McConalogue were among the guests.
One student there said: “This shouldn’t have been a day about politics. This was about our day and those protestors tried to ruin it. They failed.”
That was all forgotten inside the school however where Intel Ireland’s Brendan Cannon praised Shaun Sweeney and the pupils and staff. He told them that Intel was committed to helping students and teachers “move from a content-based to a skills-based learning and teaching model.”
Greg Tierney from technology company Steljes, said: “This solution provides an economic way for teachers and parents to provide a one-to-one eLearning environment for students.
“What we are offering here is a complete solution – a laptop designed specifically for the education market coupled with classroom control for the teacher and on-line access to the Junior Certificate curriculum.”
