MINISTER OF State for Science Conor Lenihan got more than he bargained for when faced with tough questions during a minipress conference at the launch of Science Week Ireland 2010.
The questioners – third and fourth class pupils from the Gardiner Street Primary School – were determined to get answers and the hands shot up as the inquisition began.
“Have you ever invented anything?” one young girl asked. Mr Lenihan bit his lip and acknowledged that no he hadn’t, and had not been very good at maths in school.
“What team do you support?” another demanded, forcing the Minister to admit to two, Shamrock Rovers and Manchester United.
He was at his wits end by the time he was asked how big his house was and then the coup de grâce: “What do you want from Santa?”
He delighted the youngsters, aged eight to 11, answering their questions as seriously as he would those from the most hard bitten of hacks.
He also managed to drive home the key message of science week – the value of studying science subjects and maths given the pupils would be working in the smart economy 10 years hence.
Yesterday morning’s launch is one of more than 450 events planned for the week which officially runs from this Sunday through to November 14th. It offers the usual lively mix of lectures, presentations, shows and displays, with a particular emphasis on family involvement, said Peter Brabazon, who heads Discover Science and Engineering, the Government’s main public outreach scheme for promotion of science, engineering and maths.
“Science week for us is . . . about building flexible minds. We don’t know what kinds of companies will be here in 10 years but we know that knowledge will be the key export.”
Events are planned at centres across the Republic. Most local libraries are involved, as was the Pearse Street Library in Dublin that hosted the launch.
The universities and institutes of technology are also holding events. IT Sligo for example has a talk on the hunt for extraterrestrials.
There is a talk at the National Museum explaining how forensic anthropologists recreated the face of a bog body discovered in Co Meath in 2003.
Science Week runs from November 4th to 7th. Full programme available online at scienceweek.ie