Young Scientist Exhibition is a success story

The piece below appears in this week's 'Ireland's Own'. The weekly magazine has a circulation of 50,000.

By Michael Commane
It’s not everyone who gets the chance to meet someone who has rubbed shoulders with George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Eamon de Valera, Richard Nixon, President John F Kennedy, Erskine Childers, Patrick Hillery, Sean Lemass, Pope John Paul II, Garret FitzGerald, Charlie Haughey, Todd Andrews, Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly.

That was just my good fortune when I called on 90-year-old Niall Weldon (above) in his home in Rush, Co Dublin.

Ireland’s Young Scientist Exhibition will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2015. This year as a result of an initiative begun in NUI Maynooth, 100 schools in Tanzania took part in the country’s first Young Scientist Tanzania exhibition.
The idea for the Tanzanian project springs from Ireland’s successful Young Scientist Exhibition.

Concern Worldwide sponsored a prize at this year’s exhibition which was held in Dar-es-Salaam. The Concern prize was won by Pamba Secondary School in Mwanza. The prize is called the Concern Niall Weldon Award and this year’s prize was a laptop and a lab-in-the-bag, which is a kit of basic scientific tools to engage or interest young people in science.

Niall Weldon was chairman of the Aer Lingus Young Scientist Exhibition judging panel for 22 years.

Back in 1964 Carmelite priest Tom Burke, a physicist at UCD, visited a science fair in Albuquerque with Tony Scott. On their return to Ireland they looked for a sponsor for a similar exhibition in Ireland and the then Aer Lingus Chief Executive Jerry Dempsey obliged.

The first exhibition was held in Dublin’s Mansion House in 1965. There were 190 exhibits, and seven judges. It lasted three days and approximately 5,000 people attended. It was officially opened by the taoiseach of the day, Sean Lemass.

The success of the exhibition meant it needed a bigger home, Dr Tony Scott, a member of the Royal Dublin Society science committee facilitated its move to the RDS where it has remained to the present day. The 2013 exhibition, now sponsored by BT, will have 1,879 ideas entered from 4,189 students from 32 counties. In recent times over 37,000 attend the exhibition each year.

Although modest in its proportions and aspirations, the inaugural event was considered a worthwhile venture but questions were raised as to its ability to cope with the major scientific and technological developments then taking place nationally and internationally.

“Two important factors provided the exhibition with a sound starting base. Aer Lingus had a small team of highly efficient and dedicated personnel. Secondly we were able to call on the services of as many as fifty eminent scientists from a wide range of institutions to adjudicate on the hundreds of exhibits. These were drawn from universities, colleges, trade and commerce organisations, Government departments, health and hospital boards and a variety of other educational bodies. A point worthy of note here is that all the judges gave their services for free,” Niall recalls.

“Paddy Brennan, who was Company Secretary of Aer Lingus, was appointed chairman of the judging panels at the exhibition. In 1966 Paddy went to work with International Air Transport Association (IATA) and I was appointed Company Secretary and subsequently the job he did at the Young Scientist Exhibition fell to me. I did that job until 1988,” Niall explains.

Niall was born in 1922, attended Rush National School, O’Connell Schools and UCD where he graduated with Commerce and Public Administration degrees. Niall paid a high tribute to his maths teacher, Kit Carroll in O’Connell Schools, who taught him for the Leaving Cert.

“Everyone in our class got honours in maths due entirely to Kit’s teaching brilliance. He also taught Pat Kenny of RTE fame,” he says.
Niall’s late wife, Lily Shiels, was a maths teacher from Ballyboughal and shared first place with Charlie Haughey in her final B Comm. examination at UCD.
Niall’s first full time job was a senior clerkship position in the Turf Development Board, now known as Bord na Mona.

After four years in the Turf Board he joined Aer Lingus. His boss was Michael Dargan, who in later became CEO and later still Chairman of Aer Lingus.
Niall’s first promotion was to fill the post of Administrative Assistant to the London District Manager. He spent two years in London and it was while he was in London that he met Winston Churchill and George Bernard Shaw when deputising for the District Manager who was unable to be present.

“One evening there was a party at the nearby Tea Centre and Churchill had been invited to open it. My boss was sick so I was sent to the party. I was in a line of people and when Churchill heard I worked for Aer Lingus, he asked me if I knew Jack Kelly Rogers. At the time Kelly Rogers was deputy MD of the airline. He had been a sea plane pilot and had flown Churchill to the Yalta conference. I told Churchill I knew Kelly Rogers. I had never spoken to him in my life! I often think of that day. I was much taller than Churchill and was looking down on him when I told my fib.
“When I came back to Ireland I got to know Kelly Rogers and we became friends,” Niall tells me.

The Rush man spent 42 years working in Aer Lingus, retiring in 1988.
The late Patrick Lynch who served as Aer Lingus chairman between 1954 and 1975 suggested to Niall that he should write a book.

“The idea sounded daft as I had never written anything but Patrick prevailed on me. I wrote a draft and gave it to Terry Prone to read. She liked it and, believe it or not, ‘Pioneers in Flight’ sold out,” Niall proudly tells me.

Concern’s Chief Executive Tom Arnold expressed his delight that Niall was willing to allow Concern use his name in their sponsored prize in Tanzania.

Niall Weldon has spent his life developing ideas and fostering growth. He has played a pivotal role in the development and support of the Young Scientist Exhibition.

The nonagenarian is a man of great intelligence, who has used his wisdom and diligence in furthering the development of science and business for the betterment of peoples at home and abroad.

Niall remained as chairman of the judging panels at the Young Scientist Exhibition until his retirement from Aer Lingus. Today, in his 91st year he is keenly aware of the importance knowledge based industries play in the well-being of Ireland.
“The industries of the future and the industries that have a future are knowledge-based. To ensure our place in these industries, Ireland needs not only a grasp of science and technology, but also a planned programme to keep pace with world developments in these areas. The Aer Lingus Young Scientist Exhibition has been a trailblazer that has pointed the way forward for young Irish people.”