Coláiste Chiaráin student awarded €25,000 Naughton Scholarship

A former student at Coláiste Chiaráin Secondary School in Athlone has been awarded a prestigious Naughton Foundation Scholarship worth €25,000 to pursue her third level studies.

Keela Plunkett was accompanied by the Principal of Coláiste Chiaráin, Brendan Waldron, when she accepted the Naughton Foundation Scholarship for Roscommon at a special awards ceremony in Trinity Business School, Trinity College, Dublin on Saturday last, October 18.

The high-achieving student will use the €25,000 in funding to pursue her study of science at UCD, while her former secondary school, Coláiste Chiaráin, was awarded a prize of €1,000 towards the school’s science facilities, for their support of their winning student.

Keela Plunkett joins 37 other exceptional Irish students who were awarded third level scholarships towards their studies in the areas of engineering, science, technology, and maths. The awards were presented by founding patrons of the Naughton Foundation, Dr. Martin Naughton, and his wife Carmel, who were joined by Minister Jack Chambers, to present winning students with their awards and cheques.

Supporting academic and innovative excellence in Irish students, the Naughton Foundation Scholarship Awards are an investment in the future of Ireland's reputation as a country with outstanding graduates promoting the study of engineering, science, and technology at third level.

Since its establishment in 2008, the Foundation has presented over €8 million in scholarships to over 450 young people in publicly funded institutions across the island of Ireland. The scheme started in three counties and has continued to expand annually to become a nationwide scheme in 2016. There is one guaranteed scholarship (€25,000) for each participating county, with some counties awarded more than one scholarship and each scholarship is worth €6,000 for each year of a student’s three- or four-year undergraduate degree.

Dr. Martin Naughton said both he and his wife, Carmel, are delighted at the growth of the Naughton Foundation Scholarship Programme, and the incredible community of alumni who are doing “extraordinary work” in education, research and industry at home and abroad. “When we meet these young engineers, researchers, and mathematicians, I am very happy knowing that we have invested in Ireland’s wealth creators and leaders of the future” he told the young scholarship recipients.