Students from Co Offaly win top prize at Young Social Innovators' Awards with sustainable alternative to paper

Irish Independent

13-05-2025

Tullamore College pupils Ryan Plunkett and Killian Farrell won gold with their idea to create "Grass Sheets", a paper made from repurposed grass clippings.
The pair collaborated with Offaly County Council and Tullamore Pitch and Putt Club to source discarded grass for their project, which aimed to reduce deforestation, carbon emissions and waste, and showed how diverse their invention is by creating paper bags, pouches for wildflowers and even a jacket from their grass paper.
Tullamore College teacher Emma Bradley said their project is a clear sign that "the future is bright", with the school "delighted" for Ryan and Killian as they lifted the top prize at the Aviva Stadium today.
Speaking to the Irish Independent, Ms Bradley said she was immediately stuck by how "creative" and "different" their idea was when they first brought it to her in the school corridor some months ago.
They plan to explore new uses for the product and continue to collaborate with local businesses following their win.
Ms Bradley and her colleague Ian Feighery worked with 84 transition year students this year as they dreamed up their project ideas, with three projects from Tullamore College making it to the final.
"When you see the those groups, you would definitely say the future is bright," she said. "YSI has definitely opened an awful lot of doors for the kids. We do a brief afterwards and ask, 'How did you find (doing the YSI project)?' And they say, 'I would never have stood up on a stage if you had asked me in September.' They do a load of little projects that made them go out into the public, into the community, and do it."
Students from St Brendan's College in Killarney, Co Kerry, took home the silver award for their project "Comparison is the Thief of Joy", which teaches people how to identify filtered or deep fake videos and highlights how unrealistic social media standards can be.
The bronze award went to Rosses Community School in Dungloe, Co Donegal, for its "Tick Tack Go" project, which aims to raise awareness of Lyme Disease and saw student create tick removal kits to protect people living in high risk places.
Schools from across the country also took home prizes for sustainability, health and other subjects with their innovative projects, with YSI CEO Roger Warnock congratulating the students on their work.
"The cutting-edge social issues being addressed in the projects by our 2025 YSI Awards' winners and their commitment to finding solutions demonstrates how important social innovation education is for empowering our young people," he said.
There were 42 finalists shortlisted out of around 300 teams who took part in the YSI programme in their secondary schools this year.
Junior minister Jerry Buttimer said the work displayed by young people at the YSI Awards was "nothing short of inspiring".