Local School Win Student Enterprise Award

Local School Win Student Enterprise Award

Clodagh Brophy

A student-run business from a local school has won an award at the Student Enterprise Awards National Finals in Croke Park, thanks to the support of Local Enterprise Office Carlow.

The Junior Cert Science Dictionary from St. Leo’s College, Carlow won the Most Effective Social Media Campaign Award at the National Finals last week (April 20th) in the senior category. The student-run mini company creates dictionaries which aim to help Junior Cycle science students revise for exams.  The student company was created and designed by Clodagh Brophy.

Co-ordinated by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices across the Local Authorities Network, the 14th Annual Student Enterprise Awards National Final in Croke Park saw 201 student entrepreneurs from 69 schools showcase 76 different student enterprises, across Junior, Intermediate and Senior Categories.  A record-breaking 22,000 students from 620 schools took part in the programme this year.

Awards for Category Winners, Innovation, Best Display, Intellectual Property Awareness and Social Media were also presented during the ceremony, as part of the overall €10,000 prize fund.

Kieran Comerford, The Head with the Local Enterprise Office Carlow congratulated the award-winning student enterprise, saying: “The judges were very impressed with the students’ ability to identify a problem and develop a solution that has real commercial potential. The Student Enterprise Programme was set up to encourage more young people to start a business and to foster a more enterprising culture for start-ups. A record number of students and schools took part in this year’s programme, showing a growing interest in enterprise in the classroom.”

The Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation and T.D. for Meath East, Mr.  Damien English, presented the students with their award on stage, saying: “It is extremely encouraging to see the level of ingenuity and entrepreneurship in action throughout classrooms in Ireland today.  Through the Student Enterprise Awards, the Local Enterprise Offices are supporting more young people to develop practical business experience and it provides students with the opportunity to learn first-hand skills that are vital for securing future growth within the Irish economy.” 

St. Oliver Post Primary in old castle took the overall Junior Category prize for 'Amor Stirrup Guide' with their First Year project. The Intermediate Category, which is open to second and third year students, was won by ‘Inish Wood Working’ from Scoil Mhuire Buncrana from County Donegal for their hand-crafted giftware. The top prize in the Senior Category went to ‘Headphone Helpers’ from Coláiste Chraobh Abhann inWicklow, for a patent-pending band for earphones.

The Social Media Awards were supported by Essential French and the Intellectual Property Awareness Awards were supported by the Irish Patents Office.

Twenty students with the highest marks in the Senior Category were also offered a place at the week-long ‘Winners Business Bootcamp’, which is running in University College Cork from May 30th to June 4th.

The 2016/2017 Student Enterprise Awards programme starts in September, with full details available at www.studententerprise.ie or by searching #studententerprise on social media.