Local students congratulated after representing Westmeath at National Enterprise finals
Budding entrepreneurs from Mercy Secondary School Kilbeggan and Moate Community School represented Westmeath at this year's Student Enterprise Programme National Finals, held in Croke Park on Friday last, May 5.
In the Junior Category, the students representing Westmeath at the National Finals were Niamh Noone, Doireann Keena and Lucy Keane of 'You Rock' at Moate Community School. Their initiative involved making handmade frames using rocks for gifts and home décor.
In the senior category of the competition, Westmeath was represented by Aoife Mangan, Lauren Wrafter, Chloe Daly, Lucy Caulfield from Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan.
Their 'Paper4Nature' project involved recycling waste paper by turning it into new products such as cards and bookmarks.
There were 82 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the final in what is Ireland’s largest entrepreneurship programme for second level students.
The project which was crowned the overall winner at senior level was 'McCompactors' - the work of Roscommon Community College students Joshua McCormack and Evan McNeil.
Neale Richmond, Minister of State for Employment Affairs and Retail Business, commended the students at Friday's event, saying; "Congratulations to everyone who made it to the National Finals.
"With over 25,000 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."
Christine Charlton, Head of Enterprise in Westmeath County Council said: "Year on year 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 products that were built on our unique ability to tell compelling stories.
"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 2022/23 we will see some business leaders and global entrepreneurs of the future emerge."