For the first time, the national final for Ireland’s largest student entrepreneurial programme will be held in the Midlands, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel on May 9.
Over 80 of Ireland’s brightest young entrepreneurial minds will compete in the finals of the Student Enterprise Programme from the 26,000 or so who began their businesses in September.
The initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices has seen almost 400,000 secondary school students take part since it began in 2003.
The 81 shortlisted businesses will exhibit at the National Finals where winners will be announced across the three categories of senior, intermediate and junior and one business will be named Student Enterprise of the Year for 2024.
The Finalists cover all sectors of business from seaweed harvesting and medical identification to farm safety and portable cranes.
For the programme, each student enterprise is challenged with creating, setting up and running their own business, and must show viable sales of their service or product.
The entrepreneurial journey for many does not end when the National Final wraps up each year. Many go on to make their mark on the business world both in Ireland and overseas across many sectors.
Laois will be well represented at the National Finals by Portlaoise CBS and Portlaoise College.
Representing Laois in the Senior Category is David Reddin and John Phelan with their project Steady Wine from St Mary`s CBS, Portlaoise.
David and John made handcrafted, personalised wooden holders for wine bottles and glasses with a very innovative self-standing bottle holder utilising their physics knowledge.
In the Intermediate Category, Laois will be well represented by Amina Adnan with her project Eternity Cosmetics from Portlaoise College. Amina makes long lasting perfume with natural ingredients.
In the Junior Category by Olivia Przepiora with her project Via`s Jewellery from Portlaoise College.
Olivia makes unique nickel-free resin earrings and is selling in a local pharmacy.
Michael Nevin, Chair of the Local Enterprise Offices’ Enterprise Education Committee, said: “Year on year we see an amazing spread of businesses from across the country in our National Finals.
“The interest in entrepreneurship and the skills that come with it is increasing.
“Last year we had one of our biggest participation figures for the programme with over 28,000 taking part.
“These students are hugely engaged with the challenges of creating and running a business and not only that but they want to create businesses that will make a difference in the world.
“And whatever the finals and the future hold for these students these skills will stand by them.”
Picture: Alf Harvey.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
Picture: Alf Harvey.
