2024 off to a flying start

Delegates from Ireland, Scotland and Northern Ireland managed to dodge the storms for three days of debate, discussion, papers, speakers and team work in Ayr.

On the final evening, Áine Ryan from the Office of the Planning Regulator took the Ireland Young Thinker of the Year title for an exceptionally brave paper on autism. Rachel McCulloch from Forestry and Land Scotland won the Scotland and Northern Ireland Young Thinker of the Year title for a well-written paper on the rarely tackled subject of death.

The runners-up were Karl Smith, Fingal County Council, and Anna Campbell, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, for their papers on protecting democracy from extreme populism and making the Isle of Skye Scotland's third national park, respectively.

The winning group in the Group Challenge were David Hamilton, Northern Ireland Social Care Council; Jaynie Ireland, Highlands and Islands Enterprise; Ciaran Rafter, Houses of the Oireachtas Service; Ailbhe Rooney, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; and Áine Ryan, Office of the Planning Regulator. Their presentation on the concept of 'justice' was an exploration of the theme which ranged from the comedic and seemingly trivial to the setting of dangerous precedents, with excellent team work, imagination and enthusiasm.

A special award for Best 90-Second Challenge (across both programmes) went to David Hamilton, who asked: Does reading the Bible alone make you a good Christian? His presentation stood out for being personal, genuine, vulnerable, and brave for 2024. He made us laugh but also made us think deeply.