Students from St Gerald's College in Castlebar have been named the national winners of the 2015 Generation €uro Students' Award.

The transition-year students from the Mayo school will now represent Ireland at the European Central Bank (ECB) next month, where they will meet ECB president Mario Draghi and the other winning teams from across the euro zone to take part in a series of workshops and events.

Team captain Mark Balaski was joined by James Hughes, Enda Mulchrone and Mark Benson in a team that was mentored by their teacher, Regina Casey.

Two teams from Gonzaga College in Dublin were announced as runners-up in the contest.

The competition, organised by the ECB, aims to increase awareness of economics and of decision-making on monetary policy.

In three rounds of competition during the academic year, students in teams take on the role of the ECB governing council to set interest rates for the euro zone.