Moate CS pupils set for national student enterprise finals next month

Students from Moate, Kilbeggan and Mullingar will represent Westmeath at the upcoming finals of Ireland's largest student entrepreneurial programme.

And the local students won't have too far to travel either - with the national event being held in the Mullingar Park Hotel on May 9.

This will be the first time that the Midlands has hosted the national finals of the Student Enterprise Awards programme, which is an initiative of the Local Enterprise Offices.

Some 26,000 students commenced their involvement in this year's competition last September, and, from this crowded field, 81 teams have made it through to the decisive stage.

The Westmeath finalist in the Junior category is the 'Eco Estate' honey products company devised by Moate Community School students Jack McGuinness, Aodhán Cullen, Will O'Brien and Conor Cunniffe.

Representing the Lake County in the Intermediate category is Odhrán Claffey from Mercy Secondary School, Kilbeggan with his 'Silk and Ivory' handmade soap initiative.

And the Senior category finalists from Westmeath will be a team from St Finian's College, Mullingar. Students John Glennon, Brian Dillon, and Jamie Gaffney started the 'Hatch it Out' business which is a hatch your own chickens pack and also involves an educational aspect.

At the finals, winners will be announced across the three categories of Senior, Intermediate, and Junior, and one business will be named Student Enterprise of the Year for 2024.

Michael Nevin, Chair of the Local Enterprise Offices’ Enterprise Education Committee, said: "Year on year, we see an amazing spread of businesses from across the country in our national finals.

"The interest in entrepreneurship, and the skills that come with it, is increasing. Last year we had one of our biggest participation figures for the programme, with over 28,000 taking part.

"These students are hugely engaged with the challenges of creating and running a business and, not only that, they want to create businesses that will make a difference in the world. And whatever the finals and the future hold for these students, these skills will stand by them.”

This year's finalists span a broad spectrum of business, from seaweed harvesting and medical identification to farm safety and portable cranes.

For the programme, each student enterprise is challenged with creating, setting up and running their own business, and must show viable sales of their service or product.

The entrepreneurial journey for many does not end when the national final wraps up each year. Many go on to make their mark on the business world both in Ireland and overseas across many sectors.

One such former Westmeath student is Miriam Wade, who attended Loreto College, Mullingar.

Miriam was awarded third prize in the senior category at the national final back in 2004 with 'Silver Fusion' - her silver jewellery production business. Twenty years on, Miriam has continued this idea into an award-winning successful reality, designing bespoke creations across Ireland.