Ciara Judge, Emer Hickey and Sophie Healy-Thow from Kinsale were last night named the overall winners of the Grand Prize as well as the 15-16 age category at this prestigious global science competition.

The group undertook an extensive study on crops of wheat, oats and barley and statistical analysis of their results indicated that naturally occurring Rhizobium strains of the diazotroph bacteria family accelerated germination by up to 50pc and, in the case of barley, increased yields by 74pc.

The Google Science Fair is intended to encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers. The overall grand prize includes a 10-day National Geographic Expedition to the Galapagos Islands, a visit to the Virgin Galactic Spaceport in New Mexico, and US$50,000 in scholarship funding.

Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD today congratulated the girls saying the “project has significant potential to address food poverty and could also reduce agriculture’s environmental footprint by lowering the use of fertiliser. The students, their parents and teachers should all be very proud of their achievement