Isaac and George Naughton reach national student enterprise final
Twins Isaac and George Naughton representing Roscommon Community College, with their project, Beo go Deo, have qualified for the intermediate category of the National Student Enterprise Programme competition.
The boys live with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), a progressive neuromuscular disease that destroys muscle tissue and is ultimately fatal. They lost their older brother Archie to the disease in 2022.
In the Senior Category of the competition, Roscommon will be represented by Darragh Conroy and Oisin Connolly from Roscommon Community College with their project “Split Smart”.
The winners were announced at the Roscommon County Final on March 19, which was held in the Abbey Hotel, Roscommon. 489 students from eight schools took part in the annual programme locally.
This year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Final will take place on Thursday, May 7 in the Mullingar Park Hotel.
The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities across Ireland, saw over 30,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2025/2026.
Special guests at the Roscommon Final included the Leas Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council Cllr John Keogh and Director of Services with responsibility for Enterprise Sean Mullarkey who were accompanied by LEO’s Head of Enterprise Louise Ward.
Leas Cathaoirleach of Roscommon County Council Cllr John Keogh said the awards demonstrated the high level of innovation and business flair enjoyed by students throughout Roscommon: “These awards clearly demonstrate the emerging business ambition and drive of all our participating students.
“As a county, we are always looking at ways to drive business growth and development through innovation and entrepreneurship by encouraging innovation. These awards support and encourage new business ideas that will draw further business and create job opportunities for our county”, said Cllr Keogh.
Director of Service with responsibility for Enterprise Sean Mullarkey acknowledged the winners of this year’s Student Enterprise Awards, and said the awards supported and encouraged the young business leaders of the future.
Mr Mullarkey also paid tribute to Louise Ward, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Roscommon who is retiring in the coming weeks after 27 years of dedicated service to local businesses, acknowledging that “Louise has made a significant contribution to the Student Enterprise Programme in Roscommon as well as being a member of the National Committee Student Enterprise Programme”.
Speaking at the county final, Head of Enterprise with Roscommon LEO Louise Ward congratulated the students, saying, “What our students are learning from the programme is that with the right supports and encouragement, they can take an idea from the classroom and develop it into a real-life business.
The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and team-work, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers,” Ms Ward concluded.