Cork TD Deirdre Clune, Fine Gael Spokesperson on Innovation, has said Science Week in Cork has the potential to awaken young people’s interest in science, encourage the take up of science at Leaving Cert level and help create future economic growth.

Cork will play a major role in Science Week which runs from today until next Sunday. Exciting events will be held across the City and County this week in venues including the City Hall, UCC, CIT, Lifetime Lab and Blackrock Castle Observatory among others. Science Week encourages young people to engage with science by showing them how science impacts on their daily lives.

Events in Cork this week include:
Discovery 2009 in Cork City Hall and other local venues,
Magic, Science or Mystery in the Blackrock Castle Observatory,
Exploring the Universe – Our Next Step in the Crawford Observatory in UCC,
Fun of Science in the Lifetime Lab on the Lee Road.

Details of these events and many other Science Week events throughout Cork and the rest of the country can be found at www.scienceweek.ie or by contacting 01-607 3184.

Science Week has the potential to awaken an interest in Science in young people throughout the country. Now more than ever we need to encourage this interest. We need to strive towards a target of 100% of students taking science in the Junior Cert.

Innovation is crucial to Ireland’s recovery and the creation of jobs. Knowledge based industries which require students of science and maths will play a major role in Ireland’s economic future.

Unless we encourage more students at second level to take up science subjects we will be wasting the potential an event like Science Week works hard to create and missing an opportunity to secure our economic future.