Showcasing Ireland’s Top Programming Talent
Dr Chrys Nawa
On Saturday, March 1st, IrlCPC-2025 took place at University College Cork’s Western Gateway Building, breaking participation records with 180 students from across Ireland and beyond competing, surpassing last year’s record of 160.
Co-organised by the Insight Research Ireland Centre for Data Analytics (Insight) at the School of Computer Science and Information Technology in UCC, IrlCPC continues to solidify its reputation as Ireland’s largest and most prestigious programming competition.
Participants travelled from across the country and from the UK, highlighting the competition’s increasing reputation and international appeal. The energy and enthusiasm in the building were undeniable, as students put their skills to the test in what has become a cornerstone event in Ireland’s programming calendar.
IrlCPC2025 featured two competition tracks: a Senior Track for third-level students and a Junior Track for secondary school students. The Junior Track holds special significance as it serves as the final stage of the selection process for Team Ireland at two of the world’s most prestigious programming competitions: the International Olympiad in Informatics (IOI) in Bolivia and the European Girls’ Olympiad in Informatics (EGOI) in Germany.
The competition saw outstanding performances across both tracks, with teams demonstrating exceptional problem-solving skills and algorithmic thinking.
Senior Track Winners
Gold Medal – View from the Top
• Suneet Mahajan (University College Cork)
• Isaac Lee (University of Edinburgh)
• Alina Mahajan (University of Bath)
This victory highlights the power of inter-university collaboration, as the winning team brought together talent from Ireland, the UK and beyond. Their success underscores how diverse academic backgrounds and perspectives can drive innovative problem-solving—an essential lesson in both academia and industry.
Silver – DCUBoyz (Dublin City University)
• Dinh Viet Cuong
• Ngoc An Nguyen Pham
• Bao Le
Bronze – Potterboyz (University College Cork)
• Joseph Chai
• Robert Dao
• Le Lai
Best Majority Female Team – OMG Is That A Koishi Fuomo? (University College Cork)
• Xiaoyao Zhang
• Ninglin Ou
• Fangda Zou
Fourth Place – UCD bItBlitz (University College Dublin)
• Serhii Ilin
• Thomas Fischer
• Vladimir Tetyukhin
Fifth Place – Vaguelydefined (University College Cork)
• Paweł Popkiewicz
• Radek Zajíček
• Iván Fónagy
Junior Track Winners
Team Ireland IO Representatives
• Gold – Piotr Stelmaszek (St. Kilians Deutsche Schule Dublin)
• Silver – Mykyta Telychko (St Joseph’s Boys School, Derry)
• Bronze – Weichen Huang (St Andrew’s College, Dublin)
• 4th Place – Anaus (Sam) Syed (Bruce College Cork)
Team Ireland – EGOI Representatives
• Beatrice Cesonyte (Loreto Secondary School Fermoy)
• Afric Deasy (Bandon Grammar School)
• Jenna Hayes (Presentation Secondary School Clonmel)
• Lily Cahill (Kinsale Community School)
These young programmers will go on to represent Ireland at EGOI in Germany, showcasing the incredible depth of female talent in informatics.
Every great event is powered by a dedicated team. The competition is organised annually by the UCC ACM Student Chapter, led by Nicola Rossberg (Chair) and David Shanahan (Vice-Chair), with guidance from Dr. Andrea Visentin and Dr. Chrys Ngwa.
This marks Nicola’s second consecutive year as event lead, bringing exceptional leadership and vision. The organising team—comprising both undergraduate and postgraduate students—worked tirelessly to ensure a seamless and memorable experience for all participants. A very special mention to David Nash for all the unseen IT work. The teamwork and meticulous planning set a new benchmark for future editions.
IrlCPC2025 would not have been possible without the generous support of its sponsors. Cadence returned as the Prime Sponsor for the third consecutive year, alongside Insight, Keelvar, NetApp, CRT AI, and F5 NGINX.
Beyond financial support, these industry partners actively engaged with participants, offering career insights and networking opportunities. Their ongoing commitment highlights the strong connection between Ireland’s tech industry and the next generation of innovators.
IrlCPC’s continued success reinforces UCC and Insight’s position as national leaders in programming excellence, from grassroots initiatives like Munster Programming Training (MPT) to the international selection process for IOI and EGOI. Events like IrlCPC celebrate Ireland’s incredible programming talent while equipping the next generation of problem-solvers with the skills to tackle future challenges.
We extend our deepest thanks to all participants, sponsors, volunteers and organisers who made this year’s competition such a resounding success. With this momentum, we look forward to even greater growth and innovation in the years ahead.
Congratulations to all competitors—and best of luck to Team Ireland as they represent the nation in Bonn and Sucre later this year!
