Student Enterprise Awards Winner Receives Funding Boost

The winner of this year’s National Student Enterprise Awards, 16-year-old Shíofra Ryan has received a welcome funding boost from her Local Enterprise Office (L.E.O. Offaly). The transition year student from St. Brendan’s Community School in Birr with her teacher, John Kennedy, took the overall Senior Category prize at the recent L.E.O. National Student Enterprise Awards finals in Croke Park.  

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Her business ‘An Tionchar’, meaning ‘Impact’ in Irish, manufactures patent-pending designs on a boot for hurling and camogie players. In addition to the prizes she received at both the County and National Finals, she has now received a €500 gift certificate from her Local Enterprise Office. She will use this to avail of expert advice and mentoring and other business supports from L.E.O. Offaly.

Co-ordinated by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices across Ireland, the 13th Annual Student Enterprise Awards National Final in Croke Park saw 300 student entrepreneurs showcase 74 different businesses, across Junior, Intermediate and Senior Categories. 17,000 students from 370 schools take part in the programme every year.

Orla Martin, Head of Enterprise at Offaly, praised Shiofra’s efforts commenting: “We are delighted to be able to assist Shiofra with her business going forward in any way we can. She is a shining example of how young entrepreneurs can achieve great things. Every year, the Student Enterprise Awards encourage students from all over the country, to develop new enterprise concepts and products, learning about the business world in a ‘hands on’ way. Now that they’ve started their entrepreneurial journey in the classroom, the Local Enterprise Office Offaly is there to help them with their aspiring businesses in the future too.”

As part of her prize from the Local Enterprise Offices, Shíofra has also won an educational trip to Berlin in September, in addition to a place on the Winners’ Business Bootcamp in UCC this June.