Irish inventor Cathal Redmond has been awarded a runner-up prize in the international James Dyson award.

Mr Redmond, who won the Irish leg of the design competition earlier this year, will get €7,000 to develop his Express Dive invention, a lightweight underwater breathing system.

He is the first Irish student to win an international prize in the history of the competition.

The 26-year-old University of Limerick graduate's system allows users to breathe underwater for up to two minutes, and can be refilled by returning to the surface and pressing a button.

It is less complex than the traditional scuba set up, and costs around €400, compared to €3,000 for a full scuba kit. It also allows divers to go to greater depths than the traditional snorkel.

“I’m absolutely thrilled to be a global runner-up in the James Dyson award. The support I’ve received over these past months since I was shortlisted has been phenomenal,” he said. “Since winning the Irish leg of the award and talking to different people, I’ve seen there is a huge appetite for Express Dive. I’m going to spend the money developing the safety testing and getting it ready to sell.”

Mr Redmond also received €2,500 for winning the Irish leg of the competition.

The over-all prize was scooped by a team of Canadian students for a printer than can produce circuit boards in minutes. The team will get €40,000 to develop the Voltera V-One prototyping system.

The second runner-up was a team from Taiwan, with a system of biodegradable cell beads aimed at fighting algal bloom. The micro organisms inside Green Fairy beads consume the nutrients that cause algal bloom, and then die off.