Over 2,000 Fingal Students prepare for battle for a share of €10,000 prize fund!

Fingal Local Enterprise Office launches Ireland’s biggest Student Enterprise Programme competition with a Fingal prize fund valued at €10,000

Fingal’s Student Entrepreneurs gathered at Swords Castle today to launch the 2018/19 Fingal Student Enterprise Programme. 27 Second level schools with over 2,000 students across Fingal have already signed up to participate in this year’s programme.  The savvy students will develop their own actual businesses, researching, resourcing, trading services and products, with the guidance of business mentors.

Joining the Mayor of Fingal Cllr Anthony Lavin and Head Of Enterprise Oisin Geoghegan to launch this year’s programme included last year’s Fingal Student winners as well as sponsors of the Fingal competition.

The Student Enterprise Programme is run in secondary schools throughout Ireland and is the biggest enterprise education initiative in the country. This year it is expected that some 22,000 secondary students from 480 second-level schools will take part in the programme by setting up and running their own student business in a structured environment. Students find out what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur and get a practical, hands-on taste of real life business.

Students learn in a practical and structured way what is involved in setting up a business – from coming up with the idea and business name to making and supplying a product or service and dealing with customers. Students attend workshops, receive in-school talks from business mentors, benefit from visits out to local businesses and take part in a County Final to be in with a chance of representing their region at the National Final in Croke Park.

The Programme is open to all second level students from 1st year to 6th year and runs from September to May each year, in three categories Junior, Intermediate and Senior. The competition will culminate with students competing in Croke Park on 2nd May 2019, with finalists from all 31 Local Enterprise Offices nationwide.

SEP 18 Launch

In Fingal, the competition is particularly fierce – with a €10,000 prize fund provided by the sponsors of the Fingal competition! This includes a unique educational trip to Barcelona for the senior category Fingal winners.

Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise in Fingal said: “The Student Enterprise Programme enables thousands of students to explore the world of business in a positive way. It is all about giving kids an opportunity to learn the practical skills needed to be successful in business, where students can learn by doing.

He continued: “Every year we see a fantastic array of innovative and exciting new business ideas emerging from Fingal students that participate in the Student Enterprise Programme. I am delighted that we have such a wealth of young entrepreneurial talent coming through. Thanks to our sponsors we have a fantastic prize fund in Fingal – this makes it really competitive and you can see that the students work very hard to create a winning business proposition! Very importantly students learn valuable business skills and a ‘can-do’ ethos which boosts self-confidence and self-reliance.”

Putting context on the significance of supporting student enterprise, the Mayor of Fingal County Council Anthony Lavin added: "The bulk of new jobs in Ireland are being created in local and small businesses. In order to maintain a healthy local economy and create jobs, it is imperative that we encourage a strong entrepreneurial culture. Fingal County Council, through the Local Enterprise Office, is determined to ensure that the next generation of entrepreneurs are given every encouragement and stimulation to pursue their dreams. That’s what the Student Enterprise Programme is all about”.

 

More information on the Student Enterprise Programme can be found at www.studententerprise.ie