Student Entrepreneurs Fly the Flag for North Cork in Croke Park

Local student entrepreneurs from North Cork will be flying the flag for North Cork at the Student Enterprise Awards National Final in Dublin’s Croke Park on 2nd April.

Co-ordinated locally by the North Cork Enterprise Board, the competition is the most successful programme of its kind in the country. Since last September, 17,000 budding entrepreneurs from 380 secondary schools across the country have been researching, setting up and running their own enterprises, with help from their teachers and local Enterprise Boards.

The student enterprises representing North Cork at the National Finals on April 2nd in Croke Park are: St. Mary’s Secondary School Mallow in the Senior Category.

Patrician Academy, Mallow in the Intermediate Category
Patrician Academy, Mallow in the Junior Category

Over 300 finalists from all over the country, including the North Cork winners, will set-up enterprise exhibition displays before taking part in a series of judging interviews. The students will be judged on criteria such as innovation, market research, production, finances and business planning; 2014 is the first year that a prize will be introduced around social media.

Last year’s Overall Senior Category winners were ‘Squeazy’ from St. Clare’s Comprehensive in Co. Leitrim. Based on a science experiment, the Cartesian diver, the Squeazy toy is now on sale online and through outlets around the country. ‘The Boom Book’ from Oaklands Community College in Co. Offaly won the Intermediate Category with ‘Chook Books’ from the CBS High School in South Tipperary taking the top prize in the Junior Category.

Ahead of this year’s National Finals in Croke Park, Michael Hanley from the North Cork Enterprise Board praised the achievements of the local finalists, saying:

“Since last September, our student entrepreneurs have been setting up and running their own real-life businesses, learning important business lessons along the way. By promoting an enterprising culture in local classrooms, the Enterprise Boards are helping to support and nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs.”

The Student Enterprise Awards programme is run across three categories by the network of County and City Enterprise Boards. Junior Category is for first year students; Intermediate Category is for second years and Junior Certificate students and the Senior Category is for transition year, fifth year, Leaving Cert, LCVP and LCA students.

The results of this year’s National Finals will be posted on the official website at www.studententerprise.ie, which also has free resources and video tutorials for students and teachers.