Budding young businesspeople from Gaeltacht areas of Donegal have an exciting 2019 ahead as they take part in Údarás na Gaeltachta’s – Clár na gComhlachtaí.
More than 50 Transition Year students Cork, Donegal, Galway, Mayo, Meath, Kerry and Waterford are involved in the programme which encourages budding entrepreneurs to develop their own mini-enterprises and compete in a national final.
Last year’s national final winners were BOUE (pictured above), a company from Pobalscoil Ghaoth Dobhair, Co. Donegal. BOUE developed their own line of skincare products made from moss peat, seaweed and other natural ingredients.
Clár na gComhlachtaí is a hands-on business learning experience developed and delivered in partnership with Junior Achievement Ireland (JAI) and is taught through the Irish language to students attending schools in Gaeltacht regions.
Local business volunteers and development executives from Údarás na Gaeltachta mentor the students alongside their teachers as they move from the idea generation stage, to production, marketing, sales, finance right through to going to market.
The students will take part in Regional Finals in March 2019 where they will showcase their finished products at trade stands and be interviewed by a judging panel before pitching their business ideas on stage to a public audience. Successful regional finalists will then progress to a National Final in April 2019.
Éabha Ní Mhaoilbhín, Megan NÍ Fhlátharta, Sarah Ní Conchubhair, Róisín Ní Phrionsias and Kyra Ní Riain of Coláiste na Coiribe playing their ‘Banda’ game Seán Kyne T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht at the launch of Údarás na Gaeltachta – Clár na gComhlachtaí 2018-19 Photo:-Mike Shaughnessy
Seán Kyne T.D., Chief Whip and Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht officially launched the 2018/19 programme recently in Coláiste na Coiribe, in Galway. Students from the school were on hand to give a preview of some of the innovative ideas that have emerged so far during this year’s programme.
Minister Kyne commented, “The entrepreneurial skills and practical business experience developed through Údarás na Gaeltachta’s Clár na gComhlachtaí will no doubt be of long-term benefit to the Gaeltacht as these young people move on and become the heart of the Gaeltacht economy. Údarás na Gaeltachta and Junior Achievement Ireland are to be congratulated for continually increasing participation in the programme in all Gaeltacht areas.”
