NEED SOME INSPIRATION to gear you up for the weekend?

There’s nothing more inspiring than seeing one of your own doing well, is there? An Irish person doing something innovative or impressive on the world stage, making the rest of us proud.

Well, actually maybe there is – if that person also happens to be doing it all at a relatively young age… Like these gems.

Swimming upstream

First off, we have Nicholas Quinn – the 22-year-old who won gold this week in a qualifier in Eindhoven, meaning he is off to this summer’s Olympics in Rio. The swimmer from Castlebar swam 2:11:24 in the 200m breaststroke.

One to watch

Derry singer SOAK (AKA Bridie Monds-Watson) in the past has supported major touring artists like Chrvrches at their Irish dates, and her 2015 debut LP also won the Irish Choice Music Prize for Album of the Year at the ceremony held in Vicar Street last month. All that – and she’s just 19 years old.

Dive in

For the first time in 68 years, Ireland will have a representative for diving at the Olympics. Due to appear in Rio this summer, Oliver Dingley is the 23-year-old diver who last month qualified for the spot at the Diving World Cup. He is English born but lives and trains in Dublin (and boasts a granny from Cork to boot).

Andrew Matthews Andrew Matthews

Strike a pose

Conor Clinch is an up-and-coming fashion photographer who has worked with clients such as River Island, H&M, Brown Thomas and Tatler and was mentored by the iconic photographer Rankin in the past. At just 20, he has decamped to London from his native Dublin to focus on furthering his career.

Head in the clouds

Two young people, Iseult Ward and Aoibheann O’Brien, are the brains behind Food Cloud – a social enterprise app that connects shops and eateries with produce to spare with the organisations that need food. Their business looks to combat the shocking amount of food that goes to waste every year: a staggering million tons.

Andres Poveda Photography Andres Poveda Photography

Gerard Barrett

Gerard Barrett – remember that name, because you might hear it called out at the Oscars some day. This young Irish filmmaker came to prominence in 2013 when he won an IFTA for his debut Pilgrim Hill. You might have seen his movie Glassland last year, starring Hollywood heavy-hitters Jack Reynor and Toni Collette. Not bad for a director born in 1987, eh?

Now it’s over to you.

Know an amazing young Irish person?

Or are you one yourself? Read on…

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