The students all took part in the Meath County Final held in the Knightsbrook Hotel, Trim on Tuesday, March 5th. An estimated 1400 students from 16 Meath schools took part in the annual programme.
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 28,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2022 / 2023. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Final.
The winners from each category and who will represent Meath at the National Final are:
- Junior Category: Cian Healy and Seán Hughes (CS Hurls), St Patrick’s Classical School Navan.
- Intermediate Category: Annable Kavanagh and Bláithín Doonan (M.E.N.D.), Coláiste Ríoga Dunshaughlin
- Senior Category: Seán Finnegan from High Lift (Finnegan Fabrication), St. Patrick’s Classical School, Navan.
- “My Entrepreneurial Journey” category: (open to junior and intermediate students), Maria McGowan, O’ Carolan College Nobber.
Special guests at the Meath Final included Cathaoirleach Cllr. Tommy Reilly and Meath County Council Chief Executive Kieran Kehoe.
The County has a successful track record in the student enterprise competition. Recent awards won by local secondary schools have included “Barrelda” - an eco-innovation created by two young farmers from Co. Meath. Barrelda specialise in revamping old, blue polythene drums and recycling them to create meal silos and teat feeders. The young entrepreneurs have won high praise from eco organisations and farming organisations nationwide for their sustainability focused project which also addresses the rising costs of farming equipment.
Speaking at the County Final, Cathaoirleach of Meath County Council, Cllr. Tommy Reilly said, “It’s very exciting for us to see the fantastic, innovative ideas coming from the minds of the younger population of the county. It reassures us that the future of enterprise in County Meath is as bright as our students are! To our first-place winners in each category who will be representing Meath at the national final, you have the whole county behind you.”
Joe English of Local Enterprise Office Meath congratulated the students, “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Meath, with over 1400 students from 16 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 May 9th, and we will all hope to be there to support them. 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 teamwork, 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 Final, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on May 9th.
Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 380,000 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 2023 / 2024 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.
