From the 22,000 secondary school students from 620 schools that took part this year, teens from 76 student enterprises won a place at this year’s National Final in Croke Park on Wednesday April 20^th and students from every county across Ireland demonstrated their businesses and inventions for the judging panels on the day.

Three student enterprises represented all schools in the region at the National Final on April 20^th. In the Senior Category of the competition, Kilkenny was represented at the National Finals on April 20^th in Croke Park by Steven Cahill and Cian Dunne from Duiske College, Graignamanagh with their business www.fiveasidefinder.com (Right)

Lorcan Doyle (Below left) with his business “Paracrafts” from Coláiste Pobail Osraí, Kilkenny represented the county in the Intermediate Category, while in the Junior Category, the students who represented Kilkenny at the National Finals were: Aaron Denny, Conor Denny and Liam Cleere from Any Time Treats at Coláiste Eamann Rís, Callan (Below right).

The Student Enterprise Awards Programme is in its 14^th year and brings the world of business into the classroom, helping students develop enterprise and management skills. With the support of their schools and the Local Enterprise Offices in the Local Authorities Network, students research, set-up and run their own real-life businesses.

Congratulating the local students and their schools on winning a place at the National Final, Fiona Deegan, the Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny said: “We run a very successful and popular Student Enterprise Programme here locally, thanks to the support of many Schools and Teachers in the area. The Student Enterprise Awards give local teenagers a taste of what it’s like to run their own business and to be their own boss. Along the way, the programme helps them develop important entrepreneurship skills, learning about sales, innovation, managing finances and finding new markets. Learning the fundamentals of running a business now, will help them throughout their studies and career. ”

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. said: “As I have said many times before, we have great entrepreneurs in Ireland but we just don’t have enough of them. That is why at the heart of our jobs plans are measures to encourage more young people to consider starting their own business as a career choice. The Student Enterprise Awards are central to this effort, and is an opportunity to witness the amazing quality of the businesses being established by our students and to celebrate their achievements. These young people are the innovators and the job-creators of tomorrow, and I’d like to wish everyone who competed in this year’s competition every success with their business”.

Local students from Kilkenny have been successful in recent years at the National Finals. Last year, Kilkenny entrant Mya Russell from Coláiste Pobail Osraí, were awarded an Intellectual Property Award at the National Final, while  the year previous ‘3T Tairgi’ also from Colaiste Pobal Osraí, Co. Kilkenny scooped the social media award. Stephen Agar from Kilkenny College was presented with a special merit award in 2013 and in 2012 the overall Intermediate award was won by twin brothers James and Sean Power from Coláiste Éamann Rís in Callan.

Further information around the Student Enterprise Awards, which is run by the Local Enterprise Offices, is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.