With industry revenues reaching well into the billions these future gamers are only scratching the surface

Conor Foy and Matthew Mulqueen from 1st Year in Coláiste Chiaráin, Co. Limerick are declared the ultimate winners of the 2010 Scratch Competition. 

Scratch is a programming language that makes it easy to create your own interactive stories, animations, games, music, and art - and share your creations on the web. 

Scratch was developed by the MIT Media Lab (scratch.mit.edu) and is pioneered in Irish schools and co-sponsored by the Irish Computer Society and Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre, based in the University of Limerick.  Third level support and involvement coming from Sligo IT, IT Tallaght, and University of Limerick. 

Using Scratch enables students to learn computer programming and programming skills. Creating and sharing Scratch projects, they learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively. 

Almost 100 students participated in this year’s competition when it launched last autumn. However it was Conor and Matthew who claimed the top prize last Saturday at IT Tallaght with 'Ultimo Dance', an impressive game and dance mat combination. 'Ultimo Dance' was created and demonstrated on the day using the freely available computer software programme. Conor and Matthew will share the €750 in top prize money.  

'The Irish Computer Society is proud to support the Scratch competition which is run in Ireland by Lero,' said Jim Friars, Chief Executive of the Irish Computer Society. 'The technology sector employs over 70,000 people in Ireland and generates billions in revenue. At a time when graduates of computing courses at third level continue to be in high demand, with many employers finding it difficult to meet their requirements, competitions such as Scratch give students of all ages a better understanding of what a career in computing entails. Students participating in this competition may well be the next generation of gaming and software entrepreneurs.'

'Students from around the country have submitted creative and innovative projects. We have been very impressed with the entries we have received for this year’s competition,' said Clare McInerney, Education and Outreach Officer with Lero. 

Although open to any type of software application, the most common was in the field of gaming. Good news for a sector of the economy that is developing well.  A survey last year of the computer-games industry in Ireland conducted by researchers from NUI Maynooth and the University of Limerick showed just how fast this industry is growing. 21 companies responded, which employ 1,469 people in the sector across Ireland. 

The Irish gaming industry has reportedly grown 400pc within the last seven years with estimates of worth on an international scale reaching well into the billions. These 4th year students are off to an impressive start and have taken the first step to carving out their future in this lucrative fasting moving industry.

All projects from the national finals are available for viewing here.