Pupils from three Dublin secondary schools set to represent city at Student Enterprise finals

Stratford College, Our Lady of Mercy College Beaumont and St Declan’s College are set to represent Dublin City at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals, having been named Junior, Intermediate, and Senior Category winners at the regional finals held recently at the Mansion House.

The schools competed against 14 other schools in the Dublin City area for a coveted place at the national final which will take place on Thursday, May 9 at the Mullingar Park Hotel.

More than 1,500 students from 32 schools took part in the programme this academic year, creating a wide range of innovative enterprises while learning what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur and developing key skills in innovation, marketing and financial literacy.

In the Junior Category, the students representing Dublin City (pictured above) at the National Finals are: Yihan Reddy, Eli McQuillan, Christian Briz and Roberto Mizzoni from Stratford College.

Their winning enterprise is called Slobber Stopper which is a fabric dog toy cover for slobber stopping.

In the Intermediate Category, the students representing Dublin City at the National Finals are:  Anastazjai Kadzlersla, Sophie Postek and Cheryl Adeleke from Our Lady of Mercy College Beaumont.  Their winning enterprise is Glow & Co homemade candles.

In the Senior Category, the students representing Dublin City (pictured above) at the National Finals are: Alfin Biny and Hans Rukesh from St. Declan’s College.

Their winning enterprise is Quris, a medical identification and referral system.

The annual programme is run by Ireland’s comprehensive network of Local Enterprise Offices, supported by Enterprise Ireland and the local authorities.  It is the country’s largest enterprise programme for secondary school students.  Recent ambassadors for the programme have included Derval O’Rourke, Josh Van Der Flier and Limerick All-Ireland winner Sean Finn.

Throughout the programme, students learn how to create and run their own business.  In doing so, they learn what it’s really like to be an entrepreneur and develop key skills along the way in innovation, marketing, and financial literacy.

Other recipients of awards at the recent Dublin City Regional Final are as follows:

• Margaret Farrell Award: Henar Galindo Paredes from Stanhope Street Secondary School who created handmade soap.
• eBay eCommerce Innovator Award: Joseph Mudrak and Liam Fuller from Stratford College with their enterprise Zapp which is a tool for small business owners that allows them to answer customer queries automatically on WhatsApp using generative AI.
• eBay Excellence in eCommerce: Mark Blieks, Milosz Nieworak and Raiyan Khalfan Syed from Grange Community College with their enterprise Scently odour absorbing scent bags.
• Sustainability Award: Alex Boghiu, Haneen Hassan, Ria Chacko and Saoirse Nguyen who made customised crochet keyrings and bracelets under the name Keelets.
• Innovation Award: Anthony Vilcy and Darragh Murphy with their enterprise Homework Heroes digital homework journals.
• Social Enterprise Award: Lucy Doyle, Caoilfhionn Bell, Aoibhe Murphy and Lauren Menton with their enterprise Picture Perfect self-positive mirrors.
• Junior Runner Up: Caoimhe Dempsey, Louise Kelly, Ruby Redmond, Ella O’Loughlin and Hasmyne Darcy from Our Lady of Mercy College Beaumont. Their enterprise Crochet Creatures offers crochet animals.
• Intermediate Runner Up: Laura Talar from St Dominic’s College. Her enterprise Magic Scents offers homemade luxury scented candles.
• Intermediate Runner Up: Sameer Hollone from St Vincent’s Secondary School with her Sketch to Go portable environmentally friendly wooden sketch tool.
• Senior Runner Up: Joseph Mudrak and Liam Fuller from Stratford College who also won the eBay eCommerce Innovator Award with their enterprise Zapp. Zapp is a tool for small business owners that allows them to answer customer questions automatically on WhatsApp using generative AI.
• Senior Runner Up: Emma Hill and Megan O’Loughlin from Our Lady of Mercy College Beaumont with their enterprise Pocket Play, a mini portable games bag.

Speaking at the regional final, Greg Swift, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office Dublin City said:

“We had a very successful student enterprise programme here in Dublin City, with over 1500 students from 32 local schools taking part this year.

“Our national finalists will be excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck on the 9th of May with plenty of support from the LEO Dublin City to assist them.

“This year we are very pleased to report that we are seeing an improvement in the innovative business ideas from the students in this year’s Dublin City final.

“What our students are learning from the programme is that with the right support 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”