The Irish are less than welcoming to the refugees now seeking a new home here, according to research presented by two second-year students from Coláiste Choilm, Co Cork.
An alarming number of people, young and old, are unhappy to see them arrive.
Sarah Jennings and Susan Deasy, both 14, completed a project, "Multicultural Ireland - Reality or Myth?" Both acknowledged that the answer is "myth" given their results. They got 500 people to complete short questionnaires late in September, half of them students and the others from the Ballincollig electoral register.
Women of all ages and men over 19 tended to be more sympathetic about refugees and "worried in a good way" about their plight, according to Sarah. Males under 19 were more inclined to be hostile about refugees coming here.
Surprisingly, when asked whether there were too many foreigners gaining refugee status, 81 per cent of women over 19 said "yes" compared to 44 per cent of men in this age category.
Ciara Marley, Kevin Brennan and Conor Doherty, second and third years from Stranorlar Vocational School in Co Donegal assessed whether forestry developments were affecting the ecosystems in which they stand.
"We were trying to see if anything coming from the forests could affect the ecosystem," explained Kevin (15). They started with an assumption that the trees could raise water acidity but had to revise this. "We certainly found out it was the opposite." They took water samples from three Donegal forests and found that in each the water was more acid before flowing into the trees than when it left. The pH changed from between four or five to five and six, Kevin said. They also checked water conductivity and alkalinity levels, important to know because of the possible impact on land use downstream, Kevin said.