KILKENNY STUDENTS SET FOR CROKE PARK ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL

Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny have announced that teenage entrepreneurs from Grennan College, St. Kieran's College and Coláiste Abhainn Rí will represent Kilkenny at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals on Friday 5^th May.  The Finals make a return to Croke Park for the first time since 2019.

The students all took part in the Kilkenny Final on Wednesday the 8^th of March, which was held at Lyrath Hotel. Over 1000 students from 12 schools took part in the annual programme locally with 130 students making it to the county final.

In the Junior Category, the students representing Kilkenny at the National Finals are Jane Kelly and Isabelle Doheny from Worry Not at Coláiste Abhainn Rí. They sold polished stones that consumers could use for meditation or to ease anxiety by rubbing.

Junior Category Winners of the main competition, Jane Kelly and Isabelle Doheny from Worry Not at Coláiste Abhainn Rí with Judge Marion Acreman of MacDonagh Junction and Head of Enterprise (Acting)Aileen McGrath of Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny

Cian Holohan and Jack Dooley from HD Horseshoe Designs at St. Kieran's College will be representing the county at the Finals in the Intermediate Category. This company sold a variety of ornaments made from repurposed horseshoes.

Intermediate Category Winners of the main competition, Cian Holohan and Jack Dooley from HD Horseshoe Designs at St. Kieran's College with Judge Marion Acreman of MacDonagh Junction.

In the Senior Category of the competition, Kilkenny will be represented on May 5^th by Michael Bookle, Conor Monks, Darragh Dack, Conor Kelly and Isaac Magnez from The Gaming Guard at Grennan College. An Xbox and PlayStation 5 controller accessory that helps players avoid being kicked out of live online games made from 3-D printing.

Senior Category Winners of the main competition Michael Bookle, Conor Monks, Darragh Dack, Conor Kelly and Isaac Magnez from The Gaming Guard at Grennan College with Aileen McGrath, Head of Enterprise (Acting), of Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny and Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Pat Fitzpatrick.

In the “My Entrepreneurial Journey” competition two Coláiste Abhainn Rí students will represent Kilkenny in the National Finals; Ruth O'Sullivan of Shake It Up Ltd.in the junior category and Darragh Lyons from Energelz in the intermediate category.

My Entrepreneurial Journey Junior competition winner: Ruth O'Sullivan of Shake It Up Ltd. from Coláiste Abhainn Rí with Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Pat Fitzpatrick, Cllr. Deirdre Cullen and Judge Morgan Doyle. My Entrepreneurial Journey Intermediate competition winner: Darragh Lyons from Energelz from Coláiste Abhainn Rí with Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Pat Fitzpatrick, Cllr. Deirdre Cullen and Judge Morgan Doyle

Full list of awards:

Mini-Company Results:

Junior Category: Jane Kelly and Isabelle Doheny from Worry Not at Coláiste Abhainn Rí.

Intermediate Category: Cian Holohan and Jack Dooley from HD Horseshoe Designs at St. Kieran's College.

Senior Category: Michael Bookle, Conor Monks, Darragh Dack, Conor Kelly and Isaac Magnez from The Gaming Guard at Grennan College.

My Entrepreneurial Journey Results

Junior Category: Ruth O'Sullivan of Shake It Up Ltd., Coláiste Abhainn Rí.

Intermediate Category: Darragh Lyons from Energelz, Coláiste Abhainn Rí.

Category Awards 

Innovation Award: Shane Harding, Luke Walsh, Cesar Guzman, Keelan Cushen of Easy Clips from Duiske College.

The Green Award: Billy O'Keeffe of Growing Crazy from CBS Kilkenny.

Best Commercial Potential Award (Sponsored by MacDonagh Junction): Jody Brooks of Jody’s Walking Wonders from Duiske College.

Best Endeavour Award: Beth Keoghan of Cracking Eggs from Presentation Secondary School.

Judges Choice Award

1. Alex Caffery of Ace Vintage Gaming from Grennan College.
2. Ellen Lahart and  Lucy Dalton of Bone Appetite from Loreto Secondary School.

Special Merit Awards

1. Best Social Media: Molly Burke of Nanny’s Knits Colaiste Pobail Osraí
2. Best Display: Anna Brennan and  Diana Latysovic of Tailored Totes from Presentation Secondary School
3. Best Branding: Will Tynan, Killian Lacey and Patrick Krupinski of Urban Breaky from Castlecomer Community School.
4. Best Social Enterprise: Anna McGoldrick of Ted’s Homemade Treats from Presentation Secondary School
5. New Product Development: Conor Murphy, Afeez Ramoni, Dominik Kraljevic, Hamza El Harrack, Daniel Leahy of Fitness Fan from CBS Kilkenny.

Speaking at the county final, Cathaoirleach, Cllr. Pat Fitzpatrick mentioned “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 team-work, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers”.

Aileen McGrath, Head of Enterprise (Acting), of Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny congratulated the students, saying “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Kilkenny with over 1000 students from 12 local schools taking part this year. Our national finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck on Friday 5^th May, and we will all hope to be there to support them.  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.” 

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 Croke Park in Dublin on the 5^th May. 

Further information around the Student Enterprise Programme is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.

Judges Choice Award Winners: Ellen Lahart and Lucy Dalton of Bone Appetite from Loreto Secondary School.

Best Display: Anna Brennan and  Diana Latysovic of Tailored Totes from Presentation Secondary School

The Green Award: Billy O'Keeffe of Growing Crazy from CBS Kilkenny

Innovation Award: Shane Harding, Luke Walsh, Cesar Guzman, Keelan Cushen of Easy Clips from Duiske College with teachers Kevin Cheasty & Alison Ruschitzko.

Entertainment provided by Robert Grace and The Donny’s.