Bower students win national Student Enterprise award
by Isobel Fox
Athlone students Emma Fallon and Saoirse O’ Driscoll won the top prize for intellectual property in the senior category in this year’s Student Enterprise National Finals.
The Our Lady's Bower students were honoured for their original and intuitive enterprise ‘Hoodie Buddy’, while representing the Local Enterprise Office Westmeath last Thursday in Mullingar.
The two girls gained support from the Local Enterprise Office Westmeath and from their teacher, Vanessa Walsh.
The student enterprise which won the girls their award was called: ‘Hoodie Buddy’, a detachable, fleece-lined, waterproof hood designed to keep you warm and dry on the go. Locally made and designed to fit everyone, it offers a stylish and practical solution to Ireland's often harsh weather.
The event was hosted by broadcasters Rick O’Shea and Louise Cantillion. Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Peter Burke joined them during the ceremony, announcing the winners across the three main catagories on the day, these categories being, Junior, Intermediate and Senior.
There were 85 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the final in Ireland’s second largest entrepreneurship programme for secondary school students.
The initiative, funded by the government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw over 30,000 students from secondary schools all over the country take part.
Tracey Tallon, Head of Enterprise (A), LEO Westmeath said “Congratulations to Hoody Buddy who won a Senior category prize at the competition – we are very proud of the girls and their achievement. Year on year the Student Enterprise Programme continues to showcase the very best of Irish ingenuity and entrepreneurship amongst our secondary school students.”
The Student Enterprise Programme is open for students of all ages at a secondary level, and has been since 2003, with three separate categories - Junior (1st year), Intermediate (2nd and 3rd year) and Senior (4th, 5th and 6th year, LVA and LCA and Youth Outreach).
The three main category winners on the day were: ‘Cannon PC’ set up by Jack Cannon from Clonkeen College in Dun Laoghaire, representing the Local Enterprise Office Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown (Senior Category Winner), ‘Suet & Song’, a business set up by Michael O’Keeffe from St. Kieran’s College in Kilkenny representing Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny (Intermediate Category Winner), and ‘Bumblebees’ set up by Antonia O’Looney, Sophie Gilard, Guiliana Keane and Katelyn Murtagh from Drumshanbo Vocational School representing Local Enterprise Office Leitrim (Junior Category Winner).
The Student Enterprise Programme is funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country. Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 450,000 students have taken part, learning key skills on how to create a business idea, start a business and grow a business.