A CO Longford schoolboy has been named Junior Inventor of the Year for his proposal to develop a seatbelt clasp light to enhance car safety.
Kevin Sorohan, in sixth class at Fermoyle National School in Lanesboro, was presented with a silver cup at the prize-giving ceremony in Kilkenny yesterday, by Minister of State for Science, Technology and Innovation Conor Lenihan.
Accompanied by his “very proud” parents, John and Mary, and teachers Denis Connerton and Orla McManus, Kevin said he hoped to become an inventor and to work in the car industry.
His winning idea was to develop “a light in the push- button of a seatbelt to illuminate when the car lights are switched on to make it easier for passengers to locate seatbelt plugs in the dark”.
The annual prize, sponsored by the Irish Patents Office, is designed to encourage primary schoolchildren “to be innovative and creative in finding solutions to everyday problems”.
The competition, now in its third year, attracted more than 2,000 entries from 140 schools from all 26 counties.
