A dozen young coders from one East Galway school enjoyed a return to the national stage recently – for the first time since the original Covid outbreak.

The twelve young members of Eyrecourt Codeclub travelled to the Sport Ireland Campus in Dublin to take part in Coolest Projects 2025 on Saturday last.

Coolest Projects was an annual fixture on the coding calendar for Eyrecourt Coderdojo until the pandemic halted all club activities.

But Eyrecourt Coderdojo, which was one of the longest running Coderdojo’s in the west, closed its doors in March 2020 and only finally reopened in November 2024.

And now – rebranded to Eyrecourt Codeclub – it is back as an afterschool club for the pupils of Eyrecourt NS…and back on the Coolest stage too!

Coolest Projects celebrates young digital creators and the amazing things they make with technology.

There are in-person Coolest Projects in many countries around the world and there is also a worldwide online Coolest Projects. There are many categories to choose from.

This year the Eyrecourt coders entered the Scratch programming category.

Over a number of weeks, they decided on a theme, characters, a story and a game structure. They employed many creative skills including photo editing, digital design, drawing and of course intricate coding!

Coolest projects provided a bursary for a bus from Eyrecourt to Dublin, ensuring all children could travel and take part in the event.

On arrival each child registered and received their lanyard and t-shirt. They had to set up their project and wait for the judges at their allotted time.

The judging was very supportive and affirmative with two judges coming to each project, playing the game or story, asking questions about the process and giving very positive feedback.

The best part of the day was visiting other projects, meeting other coders and getting ideas and motivation for next year!

One of the goodie bag surprises was a Raspberry Pi Pico Starter Kit. It will fill up many Code Club sessions for weeks to come!

Eyrecourt Code Club is run by Éilis Treacy who founded Eyrecourt Coderdojo in 2013.

Principal of Eyrecourt NS with a MA in Digital Media for Education, she is passionate about integrating coding and ICT throughout the curriculum.

And with no Coderdojo in the area and the closest Coderdojo full with a waiting list, she decided to open a Coderdojo in Eyrecourt twelve years ago.

Eyrecourt Code Club is hosted by Éilis Treacy every Wednesday after school for children who attend Eyrecourt NS.

It is one of the many benefits on offer to pupils of the rural DEIS school – and prospective pupils and parents can find out all about that this weekend.

Because there will be an Open Day in Eyrecourt NS this Saturday, March 8, at 11am. And anyone interested in learning more about the school and the extra activities on offer are very welcome to attend.

Pictured: Eyrecourt Code Club members at Coolest Projects (back – from left) Mila Gilligan, Ryan Lynch, Cillian O’Brien, Ava Lynch, Shane Rocke, with (front) Lorcan O’Brien, Shay Gohery, Mario Brumar, James Staunton, Tyler Griffin, Éabha Williams and Lily Horan.