14^th April 2021

South Cork Students set for National Entrepreneurship Final

 Cork County Council’s Local Enterprise Office South Cork has announced that teenage entrepreneurs from Coláiste Muire Crosshaven and Millstreet Community School will represent South Cork at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Final on Friday, 14th May.  

The student entrepreneurs competed in the South Cork County Final, which took place online on March 25^th, with an estimated 180 students from 7 schools having taken part in the annual programme locally. Similar to 2020, this year’s national final will take place virtually with approximately 80 finalist teams set to log in from across the country. 

The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by 31 Local Enterprise Offices, supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Final. Over 29,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country took part in 2019 / 2020 programme.

Congratulating the participants, Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley commented,

“The Student Enterprise Programme gives our young people a taste of entrepreneurship and the challenges and rewards that come with it. We have a great track record of entrepreneurial enterprise here in County Cork and the Council's LEO's aim to support and promote this strength as an asset that will return benefits for the local community and economy. These student entrepreneurs represent our aspirations for the county and may well be future employers. This is the time to support and encourage them in their endeavours. I commend their achievements and wish them all the best of luck at the finals in May.”

In the Junior Category, the students representing LEO South Cork at the National Final are; Arabella Peyton, Damien McAuley, Ellen Poulter, Farrah O’ Driscoll, Fionn Daly, Jessica Brennan, Lily Grey, Michael Egan & Taylor Armstrong from Sanitize Guys at Colaiste Muire, Crosshaven, Co. Cork. 

In the Intermediate Category, Amy Doherty, Kate Nugent & Shona Finn from Covid Kickers at Colaiste Muire, Crosshaven, Co. Cork, will be representing South Cork at the Final.

In the Senior Category of the competition, LEO South Cork will be represented on May 14th by Alannah Lee, Orla O’Leary, Molly Fleming, Isabel Sibanda and Maria Ardinie from Cool Jewels at Millstreet Community School, Millstreet, Co. Cork.

Special guests at the LEO South Cork County Final included Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr. Mary Linehan Foley, Head of Enterprise, LEO South Cork, Sean O’ Sullivan, Business Adviser, LEO South Cork, Ciara McGee and last year student winners from Colaiste Muire, Crosshaven, Co. Cork. 

Speaking at the county final, Sean O’ Sullivan of Local Enterprise Office South Cork congratulated the students saying,

“We have a very successful Student Enterprise Programme here in South Cork, with over 180 students from 7 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 14th, we’ll all be logged on to support them.  In what has been a particularly challenging year for students the programme has offered them an outlet outside of the usual school demands.  What 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”.

Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 220,000 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 2020 / 2021 at www.StudentEnterprise.ie, which will feature regular blogs and houses a full range of Student Enterprise resources for students and teachers.