Desmond College and Gaelcholaiste Ui Chonba have one of the best national profiles when it comes to Student Enterprise having won all Irelands on three separate occasion, with Foirmle a hAon in 2001, A-baa in 2003 and more recently with Teacher’s P.E.T. in 2014. In addition the schools have been placed second in 2002 with Mearai and have achieved numerous other awards over the years as well as featuring on Junior Dragon’s Den, these achievements are unrivaled by any other school in Ireland.
So in Sept 2014 transition year students began to establish their own mini-companies and went through all the stages from brainstorming, prototype to final product. The students have embraced the challenges and are frequently to be found, producing their products or practicing their sales pitches at lunch time, exemplifying the fact that “the money maker is never tired”.
In total our students entered three separate enterprise competitions:
- Get Up and Go – Transition Years
- Junior Achievement Ireland – Senior Students
- Student Enterprise Awards – Intermediate & Senior Students, the biggest enterprise competition in Ireland with over 17,000 students taking part.
Emily Duffy a 3rd year student won the Limerick Student Enterprise Finals and was selected to represent Limerick in the All Irelands, she was chosen as one of three enterprises to meet with the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Mr. Richard Bruton and Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation Mr. Damien English at the Dept. of Trade in April 2015.
Emily was selected to represent Student Enterprise Awards on the Late Late Show, where she and three other groups pitched their ideas to Ryan Tubridy.
Each year over 17,000 students like you all over Ireland get to find out what it’s really like to be their own boss and run their own business by taking part in the Student Enterprise Awards Programme.
The Student Enterprise Awards (SEAs) is the biggest enterprise competition for students in Ireland. It helps students to grasp real life skills associated with running a real enterprise including working as part of a team, managing production and finances, organising a sales and marketing campaign and liaising directly with customers, judges and the media.
In 2015, Limerick Local Enterprise was represented by Desmond College’s Guide a Key in the senior category. The students emma Herbert, Diarmuid Curtin, Seamus Hurley, Eamonn Browne and Eoin Considine have designed and manufactured a unique device that allows people with limited manual dexterity to open doors more easily by enabling them to insert the key withers into any standard door lock.
On Wednesday 22nd April, Guide a Key were rewarded for their efforts when they were awarded the Most Innovative Product Award for 2015, in addition to this, the five students were selected as part of the top 20 students in Ireland who will partake in a Business Bootcamp in University College Cork in June 2015. The five day bootcamp will feature a range of interactive enterprise workshops to assist students in developing their ideas. Students will receive instruction on Digital Marketing and the use of social media as a marketing tool.
With the addition of Liam Dowling Guide a Key have also been chosen to represent Cork/ Kerry/ Limerick in the finals of Get Up & Go on the 5th May 2015.
BSafeBSeen, another TY mini company made up of Cillian McMathon, Jack O’ Connor, Patreeze Nugent, Claire Mortell and Managing Direct Conor Reidy, reached the Limerick finals of Student Enterprise and Regional Finals of Get Up & Go.
