Pictured is Conor McCrystal, principal, Recarson PS Omagh,delivering IZAK9 CPD training to teachers participating in the BYGU programme.

The Multiply projects in the North, funded by the Department for the Economy, were all completed at the end of March 2025. One example of these projects is the Bring Your Grown Up project facilitated by Ulster University which involved more than 100 teachers from all six counties using IZAK9 cubes to engage parents and pupils with mathematics. Feedback from the project has been outstanding, with 98% of parents surveyed stating that 'participating in this project will support their child's learning of mathematics at home'.

There is already a waiting list of more than 100 more teachers hoping that the project will be able to continue into 2025.

A forum on Literacy, numeracy and digital literacy was held today at Dublin Castle. Pupils, educators, academics and policy makers were brought together by the Department of Education and the Department of Children, Equality and Disability to review the progress of the national strategy.

The Maths Week team were there to meet participants and share ideas for promoting numeracy.

The strategy aligns with the core approach that Maths Week has promoted over the last 20 years.  

Bernie McNally Secretary General of Department of Education and Norma Foley Minister for Children addressing the forum.

Our ancient ancestors had the mathematical knowledge 5,000 years ago to align the Newgrange tomb to the Winter Solstice. But it is an even more sophisticated “cosmic calendar” than was thought, according to Joe Fenwick, an archaeologist at the University of Galway who says that the world-renowned Newgrange carvings depict the annual cycle of the sun. Read Sean Duke’s article from the Irish Independent this week.

The Fibonacci sequence crops up in all sorts of unexpected places in nature. But in Liverpool’s winning of the premier league? Mathematician Kit Yates explores a strange occurrence of the Fibonacci Sequence on the BBC website this week.

How Liverpool's title win has completed a mysterious Fibonacci sequence

Whether the Premier League winners table may or may not follow a mathematical pattern,  the cicada -a tiny insect- uses maths for survival. Most predators have life cycles of 2, 3, 4 or 6 years and the Cicada has evolved a life cycle of 13 or 17 years to avoid its predators. This spring there is a big explosion of the Cicada population forecast.

See links to  for more and some primary school activities on mathcurious website and a video from Numberphile

Maths Ireland Website

The Maths Ireland website is down at present and should be back next week.  

New Town in West Dublin

Dublin City Council is planning a new town between the Royal Canal and Tolka River beside the Hamilton Luas terminus. It is a most important area in the history of Irish Mathematics as it was at Hamilton Bridge (then Broombridge) that William Rowan Hamilton was walking when in an epiphany he saw the solution to a problem he was long working on and so Quaternions were born. The Hamiltonian operator is also fundamental in physics, so Hamilton is know around the world in maths and physics. Because of this a number of people are proposing to the Council that this new town be called “Hamilton”. Any readers who support this idea may make a submission the the council. See link to the right.

The 2025 IMTA newsletter was published this week. It including News of IMTA Council and Branches 2024 – 2025. Also Competition papers, solutions and results

• Maggie Gough Competition

• First Year Mathematics Competition

• Peter’s Problem

• π Quiz  

• Team Maths

There are also excellent articles

Ciara McKevitt writes about

Unlocking the potential of play: Enhancing student resilience and engagement with Blooket

Des MacHale and Peter MacHale

Revisit Quadratics

The International Congress on Mathematical Education: One participant’s story is recounted by Elizabeth Oldham

And Michael Brennan “Mathematician and artist with Kilkenny in his heart” is remembered. Michael was an active member of IMTA and a colleague at SETU Waterford who completed a PhD in Maths of Celtic Art after retirement. He was a popular and dedicated teacher and an important supporter of Maths Week in the early years.