3rd May 2018
Ireland’s largest celebration of secondary school entrepreneurs took place in Croke Park at Student Enterprise National Final today (May 2nd), co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Offices
A bread mix inspired by a 100 year-old recipe from the Cistercian Monks in Roscrea has earned keen baker, 17 year-old Manus Heenan from ‘Abbey Bread’ in Offaly, the top award in the senior category at the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals organised by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) for secondary schools.
The three main category winners were: ‘Abbey Bread’ from Cistercian College Roscrea, representing Local Enterprise Office Offaly (Senior Category Winner), ‘Lift Arm Assist’ from CBS Kilkenny, representing Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny (Intermediate Category Winner), and ‘Complete Camán’ from Presentation Secondary School Castleisland, representing Local Enterprise Office Kerry (Junior Category Winner). The students were all presented with their awards on stage in Croke Park by the Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen T.D. and Sheelagh Daly of the Local Enterprise Offices.
Lift Arm Assist, developed by three teenage boys from Kilkenny, is a hydraulic arm that replaces the lift arm stabiliser on the back of a tractor; while the Complete Camán, developed by five teenage girls from Kerry, is an all-in-one training hurley.
The programme, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the LEOs, had a total of 230 teenage entrepreneurs, aged between 13 and 18, from 77 different enterprises, competing at today’s National Final, with every local authority area represented.
This year’s Student Enterprise Programme attracted 23,600 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: “Whether it’s generating business ideas, developing markets or selling to customers, students taking part in the Student Enterprise Programme throughout Ireland have consistently shown a passion and flair for business and enterprise. Entrepreneurship is the backbone of the Irish economy and initiatives such as the Student Enterprise Programme are key to developing Ireland’s future enterprising culture. I’d like to congratulate this year’s winning students and schools. I hope their success will inspire more schools to sign-up for the next programme in September through their Local Enterprise Office.”
Sheelagh Daly, Chair of the Network of Local Enterprise Offices said: “We have seen over 150,000 students learn how to successfully run a business in the 16 years of the Student Enterprise Programme, thanks to a long-term partnership between local schools and Local Enterprise Offices. The Programme is by far the largest enterprise initiative for schools in the country, and year after year we see brilliant ideas and businesses that not only succeed at school level but that also succeed at national level. Judging by this year’s finalists and winners, the future is bright for Ireland’s entrepreneurs.”
In the Senior Category, for students from Transition Year to Leaving Certificate, the runner-up prize went to ‘The Roofing Safety Bar’ from St. Patrick’s Classical School Navan in Meath, and third place went to ‘Free Flow Bunkers’ from St. Macartan’s College in Monaghan.
Meanwhile in the Intermediate Category, which is for Second Year and Third Year students, ‘Inishowen Pens’ from Scoil Mhuire Buncrana in Donegal took the runner-up prize, and third place went to ‘U Shield’ from Coláiste Dún Iascaig Cahir in Tipperary.
For First Year students in the Junior Category, the runner-up award went to ‘Gnó-Jó’ from Coláiste Naomh Kilcormac in Offaly, with ‘Slimey Wonders’ from Dominican College Muckross Park in Dublin City taking third place.
Previous winner, Luke Byrne of ‘Headphone Helpers,’ spoke during the ceremony about how the programme has boosted his business skills both inside and outside the classroom.
Awards were presented for intellectual property awareness by the Irish Patents Office, and for social media by Essential French. 20 students in the Senior Category also 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, are available through www.studententerprise.ie
ENDS
For all media information and interview requests with students, please contact:
Sarah Bohan, LEO Communications at Enterprise Ireland
Email: Sarah.bohan@enterprise-ireland.com / Tel: 087 65 39936
Declan Lee, LEO Communications at Enterprise Ireland
Email: Declan.lee@enterprise-ireland.com / Tel: 087 695 7451
Alison O’Brien, Fuzion Communications
Email: alison@fuzion.ie / Tel: 086 387 9388
Event Information: Student Enterprise Programme National Final (May 2nd, 2018)
Co-ordinated by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities across the country, the Student Enterprise Programme is now in its 16th 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.
Photography Note: Reproduction-free images will be available Photocall Ireland from 17.00 on 02.05.18.
National Category Winners for 2018 (the full list of winners will be published on Studententerprise.ie)
Senior Category
Student Enterprise: Abbey Mix
Description: A wholemeal yeast bread mix, inspired by a 100-year-old recipe from the Cistercian Monks
School: Cistercian College, Roscrea
Students: Manus Heenan
Teacher: Catherine Smyth
Local Enterprise Office: Offaly
Prize: €2,000 technology voucher and €500 One4All Voucher for the student enterprise with a €1,000 prize for the winning school and a trophy.
Abbey Bread is a delicious wholemeal bread mix using a 100-year-old monk recipe.
Abbey Bread, thought to be Ireland’s first wholemeal yeast bread mix, was created by Manus Heenan (17) from Cistercian College, Roscrea, supported by LEO Offaly. The tradition of yeast bread making in Mount St. Joseph Abbey dates back to 1896 and continued until 2010. Manus’ delicious mix is based on the original recipe used for over 100 years, but has a unique taste and flavour to rival the original. According to the Mount St Joseph Abbey in Roscrea, Manus has “resurrected” the Abbey Bread. Manus also bakes and sales fresh loaves made from the bread mix and sells a bread mix and a fresh loaf for €10 or two packs of bread mix for €10.
Intermediate Category
Student Enterprise: Lift Arm Assist
Description: An innovative hydraulic arm that replaces the lift arm stabiliser on the back of a tractor.
School: CBS Kilkenny
Students: Edward Daly, John O’Brien and Matthew O’ Sullivan
Teacher: Pat Downey
Local Enterprise Office: Kilkenny
Prize: €400 One4All voucher and trophy
Lift Arm Assist is a hydraulic ram that replaces the lift arm stabilizer on the back of a tractor. This is controlled by the spool lever in the cab, and makes attaching implements, like a mower, faster, easier, and above all, safer, as the farmer doesn't have to get out of the cab to open the lift arms.
Junior Category
Student Enterprise: Complete Camán
Description: A complete all-in-one training hurley
School: Presentation Secondary School, Castleisland
Students: Fiona Brosnan, Joanna Moynihan, Chantelle Broderick, Katie Cotter and Tara Enright
Teacher: Pierce Dargan
Local Enterprise Office: Kerry
Trophy: €300 One4All voucher and trophy
The Complete Camán is an all-in-one training hurley, with a tethered all-weather sliotar and colour coded sections. The students wanted to promote the game of hurling at all ages and levels. The Complete Camán both educates and trains with the key areas inscribed on the “Camán” and allows individuals of any skill level to train without the need for a partner. The product is in the process of being patented and the girls have also created a short instructional video on how to use the product (link: https://youtu.be/0XHoTvt1Kdk ).
Judging Panels for Student Enterprise Programme National Final 2018
Junior Category Caroline McHale (Education Consultant)
Fiona Donnelly (Management Consultant and Entrepreneur)
John Byrne (SAOL Mind Coaching)
Intermediate Category
Michael Hanley (Retired Head of Enterprise, with LEO Cork North and West)
John Russell (Russell & Co)
Ciara Clancy (Beats Medical – Winner of Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition in 2017)
Senior Category
Elaine Haugh (School Accounting)
Orla O’ Carroll (Orla O’ Carroll Ltd)
Blaine Doyle (GlowDX – Best Idea Category Winner, Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition in 2015)
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