Mayo students set for national entrepreneurship final
Local Enterprise Office Mayo has announced that teenage entrepreneurs from St. Muredach’s College, Ballina, and Sancta Maria College, Louisburgh, will represent Mayo at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Final on Thursday, May 7.
The students all took part in the Mayo County final, which was held at the Great National Hotel, Ballina.
The enterprise education initiative, funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities throughout the country, saw over 30,000 students from just under 500 secondary schools across the country take part in 2025 / 2026.
The programme, which is the largest student start-up programme in the country, supports students to create, design and market their own business, all with the hope of reaching the National Finals.
In the junior category, the students representing Mayo at the National Finals will be Nel Lau Designs at Sancta Maria College.
In the intermediate category, Clew Bay Crafts also from Sancta Maria College will be representing the county at the Finals.
In the senior category of the competition, Mayo will be represented by Grade Mate at St. Muredach’s College.
Speaking at the county final, John Magee, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Mayo congratulated the students, stated: “We have a very successful student enterprise programme here in Mayo, with students from 26 local schools taking part this year.
"Our national finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck at the national final.
"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 have an entrepreneurial mindset throughout their future careers”.
The local students will be competing against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the Student Enterprise Programme National Finals, taking place in the Mullingar Park Hotel.
Since the Student Enterprise Programme began in 2003, over 500,000 students have taken part, learning key skills on how to create a business idea, start a business and grow a business.