The great hall of the Irish Museum of Modern Art in Kilmainham came alive with cheers. The winning finalists in the country's first crystal design competition sashayed shyly towards the stage to the rap beat of Fat Boy Slim.
Each received a certificate in honour of their placing in the New Generation National Design Challenge 2002, which was sponsored and launched by Tyrone and Tipperary Crystal in June this year. The inaugural competition, which invited aspiring young designers to create a design for a new generation, drew entries from 120 schools and colleges around Ireland.
Jonathan Quinn, from Portnoo in Co Donegal, a fourth-year student in industrial design at Carlow IT, could only say "wow" when he was called up to receive his trophy as winner of the Young Designer Award. He thanked his teachers, Bryan Leech and Peter Curran. His design was called the Icicle Tulip range.
The gang of students from Carlow IT went berserk. "Drinks are on you," shouted one delighted classmate from the floor. The college had eight students among the final 20 in this category. Lecturers who attended the glitzy affair included Colin Deevy, Emmet Sexton, Michael O'Grady and Muireann McMahon.
Designer Louise Kennedy, who was one of the seven judges, made the presentation to Quinn.
Another judge, actor Flora Montgomery, said she would soon be off to Los Angeles to promote Benedict Arnold, a film about the American War of Independence, in which she co-stars with Kelsey Grammer and Aidan Quinn. Filmed in Ireland, it's a story about a woman who tries to split the two men up.
Other names to watch in the design field are Shane Molloy, from Carlow IT, and Catriona Byrne, from the National College of Art and Design, who shared second place in the Young Designer Award, and third-placed Julie Gregg, from the University of Ulster, Magee Campus.
Daniel Risner, from Sligo Grammer School, who came first in the second-level schools category, the Youth Award, for which there were 20 finalists, wants to study architecture after the Leaving Cert. He thanked his teacher, Maura Hynds. Shauna Bradley, from Loreto Grammer School in Omagh, Co Tyrone, took second place, while Clare Brennan, from St Louis School in Dundalk, was third.
Another judge, Prof Angela Woods, of the National College of Art and Design, said: "Crystal product design is probably the most difficult to commit to paper."
All 40 finalists were delighted to see a prototype of their designs produced for the first time.
Hugo Wilson, managing director of Tyrone and Tipperary Crystal, says the competition will now run on an annual basis.