County Cavan students set for Croke Park entrepreneurship final
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Intermediate Category Winner: BASCAA Frames, St Bricin’s College, Belturbet; Special Award Winners: Spoon Savers, Royal School Cavan; Sophie’s Key Wings and Things, Loretto College Cavan; Personal Planet, St Clares College, Ballyjamesduff; Blathana Glas, Royal School Cavan; Second Chance Breifne, Breifne College, Cavan; BIJURK, St Bricin’s College, Belturbet; Winner of My Entrepreneurial Journey: Abigail Tully, Breifne College, Cavan; with invited guests and teachers. SHEILA MARIE ROONEY PHOTOGRAPHYImage 2 of 2
Mara Jewellery, Loreto College, Cavan, J.O.E. Construction, St Mogue’s College, Bawnboy, Something for Everyone, Colaiste Dun An Ri, Kingscourt, and invited guests and teachers. SHEILA MARIE ROONEY PHOTOGRAPHYTeenage entrepreneurs from four local schools are set to represent County Cavan at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals in the coming months.
Local Enterprise Office Cavan announced that St Bricin’s College of Belturbet, along with the Royal School and Breifne College, both in Cavan Town and Coláiste Dún an Rí in Kingscourt are through to the final on Friday, May 5.
The finals make a return to Croke Park for the first time since 2019.
The students all took part in the County Final on Thursday, March 9 which was held at the Hotel Kilmore, Cavan. An estimated 140 students from nine schools took part in the annual programme locally.
The enterprise education initiative, funded by the government through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw over 25,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools nationwide take part in 2021/2022. The programme supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the national finals.
County Cavan will be represented in the Junior Category, by 'Little Miss Tea Cups' at Royal School; in the Intermediate Category, by 'DASCAA Frames', St Bricin’s College; and in the Senior Category of the competition, County Cavan will be represented by 'Something for Everyone' at Coláiste Dún an Rí, Kingscourt.
In the 'My Entrepreneurial Journey' category open to junior and intermediate students, Abigail Tully of Breifne College, Cavan will represent Cavan in the National Finals.
Special guests at the Cavan County Final included Cathaoirleach, Cllr John Paul Feeley, Deputy Niamh Smyth TD, Cllr Carmel Brady, Cllr Winston Bennet, Cllr TP O’Reilly, Cllr Madeleine Argue, Cllr Trevor Smith, Cllr Shane P. O’Reilly and Brendan Jennings, Director of Service Cavan County Council.
Speaking at the county final, Tara Humphreys, Business Advisor of Local Enterprise Office Cavan congratulated the students.
“We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in County Cavan, with over 140 students from nine 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 5th.
"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 Croke Park in Dublin on May 5.