MAYO STUDENTS SET FOR NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL
Local Enterprise Office Mayo have announced that winning teenager entrepreneurs from St Tiernan's College, St Joseph’s Foxford, & Coláiste Pobail Acla will proceed to the next stage of the Student Enterprise Programme competition.
The students all took part in the Mayo Final on 10th of March which was a virtual event. An estimated 780 students from 17 took part in the annual programme locally.
The enterprise education 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 over 24,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2020 / 2021. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Finals.
In the Junior Category, the students representing Mayo are Evan O Malley, Dylan Sheridan and Dylan Murphy from “Seasonal Timber Products” at St Tiernan's College Crossmolina.
In the Intermediate Category, Christopher O Donnell, Dylan Ruane & Kasey Ruane from “Smart Sensor Switch” in St Jospeh’s Foxford will be representing the county.
In the Senior Category of the competition, Mayo will be represented on May 18th by Jamie Ginty, Dylan Gutherie, Sean McNamara, Diarmuid Cooney from Achill Seaweed Soak at Coláiste Pobail Acla.
In the “My Entrepreneurial Journey” category open to junior and intermediate students, Cormac Walsh of St Tiernans College Crossmolina will represent the county.
Special guests at the Mayo Final included, Michael Kilcullen who spoke on behalf of the judges, James Gaughan and Peter Hopkins who mentored the students through the programme and Laurita Blewitt who gave the students some wonderful tips on how to grow their business.
Speaking at the county final, John Magee, Head of Enterprise, at Local Enterprise Office Mayo congratulated the students, saying “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Mayo with over 780 students from 17 local schools taking part this year. Our finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme, and we wish them the very best of luck in the competition. In what has been a particularly challenging couple of years for students the programme has offered them an outlet outside of the usual school demands. What our students are learning from the programme is that with the right supports and encouragement, they can take an idea from the classroom and develop it into a real-life business. The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and teamwork, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers”.
The local students will be competing against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals, taking place at the Helix in Dublin on the 18th May.
Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 300,000 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 also has new range of online resources for 2021 / 2022 at www.StudentEnterprise.ie, which will feature regular blogs and houses a full range of Student Enterprise resources for students and teachers.
Further information around the Student Enterprise Programme is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.
