A NORTHSIDE girl proved she was fully focused when claiming first prize in the Junior category at the National Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) finals in Croke Park.
Ava Gilmartin, from Malahide-Portmarnock Educate Together, won the competition for her business, ‘SpecRest’, which is a device for conveniently storing eyewear.
The success was all the more eye-catching given that the school only opened its doors last September in the Riasc Centre.
The other two Fingal finalists this year were:
•Intermediate Category (second year): Loreto Balbriggan with their project called ‘Page Keepers’, a system to help book readers, and
•Senior Category (Transition year): St Fintan’s High School in Sutton with a business called ‘Bee Kind’, a topical business set up to enable homeowners to attract bees in turn helping our environment and eco-system by encouraging pollination.
The students were presented with their awards by the Minister for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection, Pat Breen, Oisin Geoghegan, Chair of the LEO Network and Michael Nevin, Chair of the Enterprise Education Committee for the LEOs.
Mayor of Fingal Cllr Anthony Lavin welcomed news of the latest Fingal success.
“In Fingal we are fortunate to have a dynamic entrepreneurial climate and coupled with our young well educated population we are very well positioned to produce award-winning young entrepreneurs,” he said.
“This is once again reflected in our overall National winner at the Student Enterprise Awards, with the new Malahide-Portmarnock Educate Together school emerging triumphant in their first year in operation.”
Mr Geoghegan said: “We had three great finalists at national level, one each in Junior, Intermediate and Senior category.
“This is an incredibly tight competition and they all did Fingal proud. To emerge with one of the overall national first place prizes was an amazing coup for this brand new Fingal Educate Together School.”
“It is a testament to the students and the great work of their teacher Ms Bergin, to win this prize in their first year of operation.”