Student Entrepreneurs receive helping hand

Blanchardstown Centre Lends Support to Fingal’s Student Entrepreneurs

Blanchardstown Centre is once again supporting the Fingal Student Enterprise Programme (SEP) hosted by the Local Enterprise Office Fingal and Fingal County Council.

Fingal’s Student Entrepreneurs from Malahide Portmarnock Educate Together Secondary School, and Blakestown Community School showcase their innovative products in Blanchardstown Centre today ahead of the 2018/19 Fingal SEP final. 29 Second level schools with some 2,700 students are participating in this year’s Fingal programme, which is once again the biggest Student Enterprise Programme in Ireland.

The Student Enterprise Programme is co-ordinated by the Local Enterprise Offices and involves 26,000 students from more than 480 secondary schools every yea. Students create real life businesses and prepare real business plans with guidance of their teachers and coordinators.

Head of Enterprise Fingal, Oisin Geoghegan explains the importance of Fingal SEP "The programme grows in popularity every year which is proof of its successful contribution to Fingal. It's a great way of encouraging entrepreneurship among the County’s students. They learn real life business skills by doing, and gain the confidence to believe in themselves and their ability to become successful entrepreneurs. We are very grateful for the continued support of the Blanchardstown Centre, which enables us to reach a very wide pool of young entrepreneurs."

Marketing Manager Designate of Blanchardstown Centre, Niamh Garrahan added: "This innovative programme gives secondary school students the opportunity to learn about and explore their entrepreneurial skills. It is run in partnership with schools throughout the Fingal region and culminates in a huge regional final in Blanchardstown. It’s a brilliant initiative and we are genuinely delighted to be part of it”

The Fingal SEP final will take place on Thursday 21st March at the Crowne Plaza Hotel Blanchardstown and the overall winner will go forward to represent Fingal in the national finals in Croke Park in May.

More information on the Student Enterprise Programme can be found at www.studententerprise.ie