Fingal Students Set for National Final as Enterprising Spirit Shines Through

Fingal Students Set for National Final as Enterprising Spirit Shines Through.

Local Enterprise Office Fingal have announced that winning teenager entrepreneurs from Loreto Balbriggan and Colaiste Pobail Setanta will represent Fingal at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals. The winning local students will now compete against approximately 80 student enterprises from all over the country for a place in the Top 15 shortlisted teams to make it to a live event on Wednesday 18th May at The Helix in Dublin. This year’s live event will not only be a special one as it’s the first in-person event since 2019, but also as this year marks the 20th anniversary of the Student Enterprise Programme.

The students all took part in the Fingal Final on the 21st of March which was held in County Hall, Swords. An estimated 1000 students from 24 schools all over the region 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 24,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2020 / 2021.  The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Finals.  The Fingal Student Enterprise Programme County Final 2022 was sponsored by Dublin and Dún Laoghaire ETB (DDLETB) and Blanchardstown Centre.

In the Junior Category, the student representing Fingal at the National Finals will be Maya Ranecka from Patch Yourself from Loreto Balbriggan.

Pictured:  Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Fingal, Oisín Geoghegan, Mayor of Fingal Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, Student Maya Ranecka and Emer O'Gorman, Director of Services at Fingal County Council

In the Intermediate Category, Custom Carry by Victoria Gluszkiewicz, Megan Nolan, Aoife Malone and Emmalise O'Boyle from Loreto Balbriggan will be representing the county at the Finals.

Pictured:  Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Fingal, Oisín Geoghegan, Mayor of Fingal Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, Students Victora Gluszkiewicz, Megan Nolan, Aoife Malone, Emmalise O'Boyle and Emer O'Gorman, Director of Services at Fingal County Council

In the Senior Category of the competition, Fingal will be represented on May 18^th by Alanna Gorman, Katie Murphy and Aoife Connolly from AKA Albums from Colaiste Pobail Setanta.

Pictured: Aoife Connolly, Alanna Gorman and Katie Murphy from Colaiste Pobail Setanta winners of the Senior Category Award

Special guests at the Fingal Final included Mayor of Fingal Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, Emer O’Gorman Director of Economic, Enterprise, Tourism & Cultural Development at Fingal County Council and Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Fingal, Oisín Geoghegan.

Fingal has had success over the years with students Emily Carroll, Lucy Barnwell, and Hannah Barnwell of Loreto Balbriggan winning the Special Merit prize in Intermediate category in 2020/2021 with their product Bee Happy. Ava Gilmartin from Malahide-Portmarnock Educate Together also took the first prize in the Junior category at the National Student Enterprise Programme back in 2019. Aoife Ni Chuanaigh from Colaiste Ghlor na Mara won the Merit Prize in the Intermediate category, with her book "Make Every Step Count" in 2017.

Councillor Seána Ó Rodaigh, Mayor of Fingal spoke about the positive contribution of the SEP to the Fingal Region: “One of the key roles of Fingal County Council is to ensure that our citizens are given every opportunity to be successful, especially the coming generation. Through the Student Enterprise Programme, our students are learning the skills that will help them become more entrepreneurial and contribute positively to their careers.”

She added: "By participating in this programme students gain a valuable insight into the operations of running a real-life business on a day to day basis. The experience they gain by taking part in this programme will help the students to foster an entrepreneurial spirit which will stand to them in the future.”

Speaking at the county final, Oisín Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise of Local Enterprise Office Fingal congratulated the students, saying: “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Fingal with over 1000 students from 24 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 18th, and we will all hope to be there to support them.

He added: “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.  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 Finals, taking place at the Helix in Dublin on the 18^th May.

Watch a recording of the Fingal Student Enterprise Award Final here .

Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 300,000 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 2021 / 2022 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.