24th March 2025
Marking World Meteorological Day 2025, Met Éireann is delighted to announce it has become an official Challenge Partner of Gaisce – The President’s Award.
Gaisce is Ireland’s national youth award, a personal development programme for people aged 14-25 and a direct challenge from the President of Ireland to all young people to dream big and fulfil their potential.
As a Gaisce Challenge Partner, Met Éireann will be offering opportunities for Gaisce participants to complete their ‘Community Involvement’ area activity. Met Éireann holds the National Climate Archive, much of which is in paper form. Gaisce participants choosing the Met Éireann project will digitise historic daily rainfall records on an online platform, making this data accessible in a digital format.
Speaking on the announcement on the new partnership, Met Éireann Director, Eoin Moran said: “Met Éireann is delighted to collaborate with Gaisce, engaging young people nationwide in the vital task of weather data rescue. This initiative represents climate science in action, and we eagerly anticipate the valuable contributions from participants, which will significantly enhance our understanding of Ireland’s climate.”
Fig 1 – Gaisce CEO, Avril Ryan, and Met Éireann’s Director Eoin Moran, discussing historical weather records during the partnership signing. Met Éireann HQ, Dublin
Gaisce CEO, Avril Ryan, welcomes Met Éireann as a Gaisce Challenge Partner: “Gaisce is thrilled that Met Éireann are now on board as a Gaisce Challenge Partner. The Irish Weather Rescue Project from Met Éireann is a great opportunity for Gaisce participants to get involved in citizen science in a new and unique way.
There are few chances for young people to participate in climate research, so we are very glad that Met Éireann is giving this opportunity for Gaisce participants to be a part of this important project to collect historical Meteorological data. To safeguard the future, we have to take a look at the past.
It is apt that we are announcing this partnership on World Meteorological Day. This day recognises National Meteorological Services’ hard work to improve society’s safety and well-being, and we’re delighted to get a chance to support our own National Meteorological Service today!”
The aim of the partnership is to help young people gain skills, explore their interests, build their confidence and realise their potential, while also contributing to improved understanding of Ireland’s climate variability and change over an extended period.
For more information on Met Éireann’s role as a Gaisce Challenge Partner, visit Irish Weather Rescue with Met Éireann – Gaisce.