All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO) 2009

The first ever All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad was organized over the winter and spring terms in 2009. We invited Transition-year and 5th-year students in Ireland and Northern Ireland with an interest in languages and good analytical skills to put them together, learn about linguistics, and participate in this fun competition, with a view to representing Ireland in the International Linguistics Olympiad in Poland.

About 15 schools replied to the invitation, and we arranged for a researcher or staff member from CNGL to visit the schools once or twice between December and February to conduct training sessions. The Olympiad itself took place at DCU in Dublin on Monday April 27th 2009.

Despite a bus strike, 97 students from 12 schools took part in the team and individual competitions. The problems were very difficult, and the standard achieved was very high. Congratulations to all participants.

The problems, which were also used in the North American (NACLO) and Australian (OzCLO) Olympiads, can be seen, together with their solutions, on the NACLO website.

RESULTS

Individual competition

Winner: Dylan Coburn Gray, Mount Temple School, Malahide, Dublin
2nd place: Kieran Fleming, St Caimin's Community School, Shannon, Co Clare
3rd place: Ruadhan Treacy, Newtown School, Waterford

Gold-level standard was also achieved by the following:
Ellen Cosgrave (Muckross Park College, Donnybrook, Dublin), Daniel Kestell (Drogheda Grammar School, Co Louth), Aislinn McGuire (Mount Temple), Sara Mohan (Manor House School, Raheny, Dublin), and David Pierce (Clongowes Wood College, Naas, Co Kildare).

Silver-level standard was achieved by the following:
Milo Bashford (Drogheda), Shaina Dillon (Mount Lourdes Girls School, Enniskillen, Co Fermanagh), Philip King (Drogheda), Sam Logan (Mount Temple), Pierce O'Dwyer (Clongowes), Seamus O'Keeffe (Clongowes), Sinéad O'Rourke (Manor House) and Robbie Osbourne (Clongowes).

Bronze-level standard was achieved by the following:
Christina Babu Joseph (Mount Lourdes), Patrick Connor (St Caimin's), Eoin Healy (Drogheda), Fiona Mulligan (Muckross Park), Eamonn O'Donoghue (St Caimin's), Barry O'Fiacháin (St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin), Ciarán O Muircheartaigh (Gaelcholáiste Chiarraí, Tralee, Co Kerry), Erica Stapleton (Muckross Park), David Swift (St Mary's) and Kiefer Wilton (Drogheda).

Team competition

Winners: Newtown School, Waterford
Runners-up: Manor House School, Raheny, Dublin
3rd place: Muckross Park College, Donnybrook, Dublin (Team B)

Just 3 points separated 3rd, 4th and 5th, with Muckross Park A and Mount Temple narrowly missing out on third.

International Linguistics Olympiad

Ireland was represented for the first time at the 7th International Linguistics Olympiad which took place in July 2009, in Wrocław, Poland. The team was as follows:
- Kieran Fleming, St Caimin's Community School, Shannon, Co Clare
- Ruadhan Treacy and Stephen Ennis, Newtown School, Waterford
- Aislinn McGuire, Mount Temple School, Dublin
and was accompanied by Hugh Dobbs, who had trained the winning team from Newtown School, and Harold Somers, Cara Greene from DCU, who had organized the AILO.

In the individual competition, Ruadhan was awarded an Honourable Mention. In the team event, which was won by one of the two USA teams, we were unplaced.
The level of competition was very high, and we are sure that we will do better now that we know what to expect. In any case, all the members of the Irish team had a really great time.

The Irish team at the ILO. L to R: Hugh Dobbs (trainer), Ruadhan Treacy, Aislinn McGuire, Stephen Ennis, Kieran Fleming, Harold Somers, Cara Greene. The picture was taken on the terrace of Wroclaw University's Institute of Mathematics, overlooking the Oder river.

Contact

The 2009 AILO is now over, but we are already thinking about AILO-II in 2010. If you are interested, please get in contact with us after the summer holidays at the following address:

Cara Greene
All Ireland Linguistics Olympiad (AILO)
Centre for Next Generation Localisation (CNGL)
Dublin City University
Dublin 9

Tel: +353 1 700 6704
Email: cara.greene (AT) dcu.ie