National award for Mayo students at enterprise finals

STUDENTS from Belmullet won the 'One to Watch' award at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme national finals in Mullingar.

Supported by Local Enterprise Office Mayo, three student enterprises represented Mayo in the national finals - Senior: Fly Fitness (Ballinrobe Community School); Intermediate: Owen's Landscaping (St. Louis Community School, Kiltimagh); and Junior: Easy Carrier (Our Lady's, Belmullet).

The Belmullet students won the 'One to Watch' award in the junior category with their enterprise, Easy Carrier, which sells portable handholds to relieve discomfort when carrying heavy plastic shopping bags. The products can be stylised to suit the customer’s needs or desires.

There were 81 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the final in what is Ireland’s largest entrepreneurship programme for second-level students. Some 28,000 students from almost 500 secondary schools across the country took part.

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Peter Burke, congratulated the students saying: “With over 28,000 students taking part in this year’s programme, it is a huge achievement to make it to the finals and shows a real flair for entrepreneurship.

“Some amazing businesses and entrepreneurs have come from this programme - the majority did not win any prizes but are still running successful businesses today. So, to those of you who won, a huge congratulations, but, most importantly, to you all, this is the first step on the path. You are the entrepreneurs and business leaders of the future and everyone is excited to see what you do next.”

John Magee, Local Enterprise Office Mayo, said: “The Student Enterprise Programme continues to showcase the very best of Irish ingenuity and entrepreneurship amongst our secondary school students. This year produced a varied selection of businesses, from agricultural products and homemade gifts to pet apps and seaweed harvesting, and some amazing winners across the board.

“We see every year that the national finals are not an end point for our student entrepreneurs, but a stepping stone on the next stage of their entrepreneurial journey. From our class of 23/24 we hope to see some of our next great wave of Irish business leaders and global entrepreneurs emerge.”

Each student enterprise was challenged with creating, setting up and running their own business, which must show sales of their service or product. The judging panel included business owners and representatives from enterprise agencies and associated bodies.