Nenagh students in national enterprise final
Four budding teenage entrepreneurs from Nenagh have been selected to represent Tipperary at the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals in Croke Park.
The young entrepreneurs will represent their Local Enterprise Office and their county at the Student Enterprise Programme showpiece on May 2nd.
Every September, entrepreneurial secondary school students across the country begin their business journey as they are encouraged to brainstorm, create and run their own businesses. In September 2017 over 23,000 students from 480 schools nationwide began their entrepreneurial journey with the help of their teachers and their Local Enterprise Office (LEO).
This year almost 1,400 students from 24 Tipperary schools took part in the county competition, which culminated in the County Final held on Friday March 9th at the LIT Thurles campus, involving 190 students with 67 projects representing 22 schools. In the Senior Category of the competition, Tipperary will be represented on May 2nd by Dylan Murphy, Billy Howard, Darragh Spillane and Cathal Delaney from St Joseph's CBS, Nenagh, with their project DBCD Helmet Visor.
Their project involves making polycarbonate visors designed specifically for GAA helmets. These visors are designed to negate the effect of the sun's glare on a player's eyesight. The sun can be extremely distracting during a game but DBCD provides a solution to this problem. There's also a safety aspect to the visor, as the visor covers holes in the helmet's faceguard, protecting the player's face from potential injury.
The Nenagh CBS project was the Senior Category winner at the County Final with St Mary's Secondary School, Nenagh, as runners-up. The St Mary's team of Emer Tuohy, Grace O'Dwyer, Orla Maher, Sarah Madden and Eileen Gleeson put together a well-received book called 'Hooked on Hurling'.
Also among the local schools involved in the County Final was Coláiste Phobal, Roscrea, represented by Alice Maher. Her project, titled 'Adorable Baby Clothes' ranked joint third in the Intermediate category. Newport College featured in the Junior category with a business titled 'Fog Off Spray' entered by Aaron Pearson and Kevin O'Brien. It was awarded second place in the category.
Special guests at the Tipperary Final included Cllr Roger Kennedy, Leas-Cathaoirleach, Tipperary County Council; Eoghan Sadlier, Head of Department of Business, LIT; Niall Hogan, Manager, Allied Irish Bank, Thurles; and Sponsor Colin Baker, Back from the Future/TV 3; Shannon Forrest, Fethard Horse Country Experience, in addition to this year’s Adjudicators - Eleanor Forrest, Enterprise Ireland; Fiona Browne, LIT; Patsy Coonety, LIT; Toss Hayes, retired CEO, STCEB and Kate Walshe, Tipperary Green Business Network.
The Student Enterprise Programme is co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Offices in every local authority area and the competition is the most successful student enterprise programme of its kind in the country. The success of the Student Enterprise Programme is down to the entrepreneurial spirit of the students involved and the Rita Guinan, Head of Enterprise, Tipperary was quick to praise this year’s entrants.
“Every year we are astounded by the ideas and the business savvy that these students have acquired at such a young age. They really are a credit to their teachers and school staff who have helped to nurture this talent. “The Student Enterprise Programme is growing in appeal every year and we hope to see many of these excellent young students coming through the door of their local LEO in the years to come. We wish today's winners all the very best as they go on to represent their county at the National Finals in Croke Park in May.”
The local students will be competing with hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland in Croke Park at the 16th annual Student Enterprise Awards National Finals on May 2nd. The Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003 with over 150,000 students getting involved since its inception. Further information around the Student Enterprise Programme is available from www.studententerprise.ie and by searching #studententerprise on social media.