Wexford student Mick Connors wins tech award

A Wexford student has won a tech award….

Mick Connors from FDYS (Ferns Diocesan Youth Service) Traveller Inclusion Project in County Wexford has been named TechSpacer of the Year at TechFest, during Kinia’s Creative Technology Week 2026.

He was previously nominated for the award last year and earned the title for his participation in several Kinia programmes including Mick’s Mini Solar Farm as well as displaying his creativity in creating a local podcast and collaborating with his local group.

Also represented at TechFest was FDYS Traveller Inclusion Programme (TIP) in Taghmon with the group receiving a nomination for the Podcasting Award for their submission entitled ‘On the Hop’ and Leah Larkin, Templeshannon Youths was nominated for the TechSpacer of the Year Award.

Wexford was also represented at TechFeile on Friday where Meánscoil Gharman student Mari Ní Bhroin was nominated for TechSpacer na Bliana (TechSpacer of the Year) with the school also receiving a nomination for Organisation of the Year (Eagraíocht na Bliana).

The events took place as part of Kinia’s annual showcase of young digital innovators, celebrating groundbreaking projects in Creative Technology, Smart Energy, Green Tech, Mobile Filmmaking, Podcasting and Robotics. The awards were presented in front of a record-breaking attendance of over 1,000 young innovators from across the country in the Explorium, Sandyford.

Kinia, an education-focused non-profit and social enterprise, is dedicated to reducing educational inequality by building digital skills and access to technology career pathways for young people across Ireland. The organisation’s impact continues to grow with over 428,000 children and young people have benefited from Kinia’s work to date with 25,606 educators engaged and 3,079 schools and youth centres supported nationwide.

The award was presented during Creative Technology Week celebrations, which saw a record-breaking attendance of over 1,000 young innovators from across Ireland display their projects as part of 2 days of events in the Explorium, Sandyford. Young people attended, engaged in hands-on workshops such as Machine Learning and AI, and competitions, such as the new Kinia Hydrogen Grand Prix (H2GP), where young minds competed in racing hydrogen-powered vehicles. A new education programme, Hydrogen Grand Prix was also added into the 2026 schedule; a global racing series and empowers the next generation of engineers, problem-solvers and clean energy champions.

The past year saw continued growth with over 2,000 educators engaged and through the wide range of programmes available 21,821 young people gained access to transformative learning opportunities. Over 63% of these figures relate to students from socio-economically disadvantaged communities and 90.3% of STEM engagement involved girls and young women. Total reach extended to 414 schools and youth services, reinforcing the organisational commitment to equitable access to quality education in every corner of Ireland.

Speaking about the award Robbie Sludds, Project Worker with the FDYS said:

“We are delighted to see Mick win the TechSpacer of the Year. He is so enthusiastic and hard working and is such a positive individual in the traveller culture. He is really setting the standard of what he sees as change and we are delighted to see him recognised today”.

Speaking during the programme of events Marianne Checkley, CEO of Kinia added:

“We are delighted to see Mick honoured today, he is someone who we have met over the years and is such a positive example in his community. Also a big congratulations to Robbie who was last year’s Educator of the year who works closely with Mick and the FDYS group. It’s fair to say that Wexford was very well represented this year and we look forward to continuing to work closely with students and educators in the future. It’s great to see someone like Mick getting just rewards for his continued hard work and dedication.

Creative Technology Week continues to be a highlight of the year, both for us at Kinia and also the community of educators and young people attending. We are thrilled to have welcomed over 1,000 attendees this week across the three main events and the addition of the H2GP National final was a resounding success and we look forward to seeing this grow in the future.

We remain dedicated to reducing educational inequality by building digital skills and access to technology career pathways for young people across Ireland. We are continuing to work towards our ambitious plan of upskilling 50,000 educators and reaching 800,000 young people by 2030 and these events are a huge part of helping us deliver our message.”