IRELAND’S FINEST YOUNG STUDENT ENTREPRENEURS CELEBRATED AT NATIONAL FINALS
Four students from Kinsale Community School took home a national award last week when they were announced as the recipients of the Best Sales and Marketing award in the Senior category at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals. The Finals of the Local Enterprise Office initiative took place on Thursday last in Mullingar.
Supported by Local Enterprise Office Cork North and West, the students from Kinsale Community School were: David Forde, John Quinn, Seán Dinneen and Jack Good, who worked under the guidance of their teachers Máire Fleming and Caitriona Leahy and schools coordinator for West Cork, Christine McCarthy. Their student enterprise DJS Engineering produced a farm equipment holder to make the task of dehorning cattle safer and easier for farmers and vets.
There were 81 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the Final in what is Ireland’s largest entrepreneurship programme for second level students. The initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw 28,000 students from almost 500 secondary schools across the country take part.
Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who took part in the ceremony, congratulated the students saying “Congratulations to everyone who made it to today’s National Finals. With over 28,000 students taking part in this year’s programme, it is a huge achievement to make it to the Finals and shows a real flair for entrepreneurship. Some amazing businesses and entrepreneurs have come from this programme – the majority did not win any prizes but are still running successful businesses today. So, to those of you who won something today, a huge congratulations, but most importantly, to you all, this is the first step on the path, you are the entrepreneurs and business leaders of the future and everyone here today is excited to see what you do next.”
Deirdre O’Mahony, Acting Head of Enterprise, LEO Cork North and West said, “Year on year the Student Enterprise Programme continues to showcase the very best of Irish ingenuity and entrepreneurship amongst our secondary school students. We are so proud of how the students from Kinsale Community School represented our region last week and took home one of the main awards on the day. Their business has the ability to grow and impact positive change in the agri sector and we look forward to supporting them on their journey. I would also like to thank and commend their teachers for their dedication to the students in preparing them for the competition. From our class of 23/24 we look forward to seeing the next great wave of Irish business leaders and global entrepreneurs emerge.”
The Student Enterprise Programme is open to students of all ages at secondary level, with three separate categories - Junior (1st year), Intermediate (2nd and 3rd year) and Senior (4th, 5th and 6th year, LVA, LCA and Youth Outreach).
The Student Enterprise Programme is funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country. Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 400,000 students have taken part, learning key skills on how to create a business idea, start a business and grow a business.
The Student Enterprise Programme is one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the National Enterprise Awards, National Women’s Enterprise Day and Local Enterprise Showcase. The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland.
Photo Credit: ROLLINGNEWS.IE
