IP Awareness Awards at the Student Enterprise National Final

Ireland’s largest celebration of secondary school entrepreneurs took place in Croke Park at Student Enterprise National Final last week (May 3rd), co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Offices.

The Intellectual Property Office of Ireland, based in Kilkenny, is delighted that once again we were able to award three prizes at the Final to those students who demonstrated the greatest awareness of Intellectual Property rights in relation to their own student enterprises. The winning students won their awards in the following categories:

IP Awareness Award, Junior Category:

“Eary Fix” by Ciara, Katie and Emma from  Presentation Secondary School, Castleisland, Co Kerry. 

IP Awareness Award, Intermediate Category:

“Sparkles” by Anne & Aine from Gortnor Abbey, Crossmolina, Co Mayo

IP Awareness Award, Senior Category:

“Worrybear & Co” by Laura, Mitchella, Ciara, Eilidh & Jennifer from St Mary’s Secondary School, Ballina, Co Mayo

Students were presented with their awards on stage by Oisin Geoghegan of the Local Enterprise Offices; the Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen T.D., and Mary Flynn from the Intellectual Property Office of Ireland.

The programme, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the LEOs, had a total of 222 teenage entrepreneurs, aged between 13 and 18, from 78 different enterprises, competing at today’s National Final, with every local authority area represented. 

This year’s Student Enterprise Programme attracted over 26,000 student participants from 480 secondary schools around the country. Starting every September, the enterprise education initiative helps students gain the skills and practical knowledge of running a real-life business.

Congratulating this year’s winners and their schools, Minister Breen said; “These student entrepreneurs are the future of Irish business and job creation across the country. The skills attained by these young students during the Student Enterprise Programme will be invaluable to these young entrepreneurs and provide them with a fantastic foundation for a future in business. Many congratulations to all the students here today. By making it to Croke Park you have shown you can create and run a business. And congratulations also to their teachers who play such a significant role in sparking and encouraging their entrepreneurial imagination. If these students decide that being an entrepreneur is the path they want to take in their future, I can assure them their Local Enterprise Office will be there to support them every step of the way.”

The three main category winners on the day were: ‘Smooth Remove’ from Boherbue Comprehensive School in Mallow, representing Local Enterprise Office Cork North and West (Senior Category Winner), ‘Críos Mhadra’ from Presentation Secondary School in Castleisland, representing Local Enterprise Office Kerry (Intermediate Category Winner), and ‘Specrest’ from Malahide-Portmarnock Educate Together School, representing Local Enterprise Office Fingal (Junior Category Winner).

Awards were also presented for social media by Essential French.  Furthermore, twenty students in the Senior Category win a place at the residential ‘Winners’ Business Bootcamp’ over the summer to help them further develop their business skills. Further details about the next Student Enterprise Programme, which begins in September through the Local Enterprise Offices, are available through www.studententerprise.ie

Event Information: Student Enterprise Programme National Final (May 3rd, 2019)

Co-ordinated by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities across the country, the Student Enterprise Programme is now in its 17th year. The official website address for the programme is www.studententerprise.ie.                                                                                                   

As part of its remit, the Local Enterprise Offices aim to foster an enterprise culture among students in Ireland. Students qualify for the National Final via their School or County Final, organised by their Local Enterprise Office. Funding for the programme is provided by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland.