LOCAL ENTERPRISE OFFICE CLARE STUDENTS SET FOR NATIONAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP FINAL
Local Enterprise Office Clare has announced that teenage entrepreneurs from St John Bosco Community College, Kildysart will represent Co. Clare at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Final on Thursday 9th May.
The students all took part in the Clare County Final on 27th February, which was held at the Treacy’s West County Hotel. An estimated 1,200 students from 16 participating schools 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 28,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2022 / 2023. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Final.
In the Junior Category, the students representing Clare at the National Final are Abbie Minogue, Caoimhe O'Halloran and Sophie O'Sullivan from Healthy Hearts at Ennistymon Community School.
In the Intermediate Category, Dylan O'Brien, Gerard McWey, Donnacha Melnyk Murphy and Dawid Maslanek , Cross Crafts from St Annes Community College, Killaloe will be representing Clare at the National Final.
In the Senior Category of the competition, County Clare will be represented on 9th May by Eimear McGee from Síoda Mara at St. John Bosco Community College, Kildysart.
Special guests at the County Final included Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr Joe Cooney. He commented on the valuable contribution of teachers in this programme. Cllr Cooney said: “Mini enterprises displaying here today require great work and effort and it is a credit to all the teachers and schools who have taken part. The students are also a credit to their parents, teachers and schools.”
Speaking at the County Final, Mr. Padraic McElwee, Head of Local Enterprise Office Clare congratulated the students, saying “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Clare, with over 1,200 students from 16 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 the 9th May, and we will all hope to be there to support them. 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”.
The local students will be competing against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on the 9th May.
Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 380,000 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 2023 / 2024 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.
