Up to 80,000 expected to take part in Tech Week

Up to 80,000 students across the country are expected to take part in a week-long festival promoting science, technology, engineering and maths careers and courses.

Tech Week will run from April 26th to May 2nd and will give student, parents and local communities an insight into technology, showing them how they can engage with it and how it impacts the world around them.

Last year, 40,000 students took part in the activities for the week, which include learning how to code, active music listening and building their own website.

Michael Tighe from the Irish Computer Society said there was a particular focus for the event in getting girls to look at IT as a career, with only 20 per cent of IT positions currently held by women.

The programme for the week will also include events such as F1 in School, workshops and talks from animation studio Brown Bag, Dublin's startup commissioner Niamh Bushnell, Google, and autism awareness website As I Am's Adam Harris.