Speaking at the launch of the 20th Student Enterprise Programme, Seán Finn expressed surprise at being shortlisted for the Hurler of the Year award. ‘I think I have a lot more to do to put myself in the bracket of winning that title,’ he said. (Picture: Cathal Noonan).
The launch of the 21/22 programme saw the introduction of this year’s ambassador, All Ireland winning Limerick hurler, Sean Finn. Finn launched this year’s programme at Desmond College in Newcastle West, Limerick, a college that has had success in recent years at the Student Enterprise Programme.
Notable recent winners of the Student Enterprise Programme include “Coppercase” in May this year who took home the senior prize. The antimicrobial casing for face masks was the brainchild of Matthew McVicar of Macartans College in Monaghan, who is son of Combilift founder Martin McVicar. In 2020, a clever attachment for a milking parlour, Handy Hose, took the senior prize and they are now listed with Glanbia across the country, while Fenu Health who also participated in 2016 /17 are taking the equine world by storm with their gut health supplements.
The Student Enterprise Programme is now in its 20th year. The Student Enterprise Programme, an initiative run by the Network of Local Enterprise Offices of Ireland, is Ireland’s largest and most successful student enterprise programme with over 29,000 second level students taking part each year.
Students from 1st year to 6th year get to set up and run their own business and find out what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur by taking part in the eight month long enterprise education learning programme. There are three categories: Junior (1st year students), Intermediate (2nd/3rd year students) and Senior (4th, 5th,6th year, LCA, LCVP and Youth Reach).
The Programme runs from September to May, and students get to do everything a real life entrepreneur would do from coming up with the business idea to marketing, sales and preparing a business plan. A winner in each category, from each regional/county final, goes forward to compete at the National Final for the ‘Student Enterprise of the Year’ award, to be held in May 2022.
Hollywood LED Letters provided our 5ft high giant 20 light up numbers – seen here with students at Desmond College, Limerick.
