World News

A team of four Guides from Lucan will represent the Irish Girl Guides at the upcoming FIRST® LEGO® League Challenge Ireland Final today (Saturday 21 March 2026) after winning the Regional Tournament held at Dublin City University (DCU) on Saturday 28 February.

The team, conNÈCKt, impressed judges throughout the competition with their strong teamwork, creative problem-solving, and technical skills. The name conNÈCKt reflects the team members themselves, with the capital letters representing their names: Naomi, Éile, Cora, and Katie.

They range in age from 11 to 13, and this is their first year participating in the FIRST LEGO League. The team has designed and coded a robot for the Robot Game and developed an innovative board game to help educate young people about archaeology.

Their success at the Regional event has earned them a place at the Ireland Final, where they will compete against the country’s top teams on Saturday 21 March 2026. The Regional Tournament brought together 16 Irish Girl Guides teams from across the country, with 88 Guides and Senior Branch members taking part in a day dedicated to innovation, robotics, and teamwork.

As part of this year’s FIRST LEGO League Challenge theme, UNEARTHED™, participants explored how archaeology uncovers and protects the past. Teams developed innovation projects addressing real-world challenges faced by archaeologists, while also designing and programming LEGO® robots to complete themed missions.

The judges commended conNÈCKt for the depth of their research, their innovative approach to the challenge, and their ability to collaborate effectively as a team. Their strong performance across the different elements of the competition secured them the Champion’s Award and a place in the national final.

At the national final, teams will present their research and demonstrate their robot designs. They will also be judged on the FIRST® LEGO® League Core Values, which closely align with the values of Irish Girl Guides: Discovery, Innovation, Impact, Inclusion, Teamwork, and Fun.

“We are incredibly proud of all the Guides who took part in the Regional Tournament,” said Katie Keogh, Irish Girl Guides LEGO Project Chair.

“The creativity, curiosity, and determination shown by every team was inspiring. Congratulations to conNÈCKt on their achievement, and we wish them the very best as they represent Irish Girl Guides at the Ireland Final.”

In addition to the Champion’s Award, several teams were recognised for their achievements throughout the competition:

• Robot Game Award:Clogherhead Heads (Clogherhead Guides)
• Robot Design Award:InGen (Macalla Guides Trim)
• Innovation Project Award:Fossil Finders (Lucan Guides)
• Core Values Award:An Daingean Diggers (Dingle Guides)
• Breakthrough Award:Rock Stars (Lily Guides Newbridge)
• Motivate Award:Dilse Diggers (Dilse Senior Branch)

The Ireland Final will bring together the top teams from across the country for another exciting day of robotics, innovation, and STEM learning. The Irish Girl Guides community will be cheering on conNÈCKt as they continue their FIRST LEGO League journey.

Supported by the Research Ireland Discover Programme, FIRST® LEGO® League is organised by CreativeHUT. Irish Girl Guides has about 8,000 members across Ireland.

Guiding started in Ireland in 1911 and operates throughout the 26 counties with 1,200 volunteer Leaders providing an informal educational programme of fun and challenging activities that foster confidence and leadership skills in girls and young women, enabling them to develop to their full potential and to become responsible citizens.

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