A creative young entrepreneur from Donegal Town has won a place in the Student Enterprise Programme final with her unique business.
Ava McLoughlin (aged 16) is the founder of ‘Irish Tweedscapes’ a 100% Irish owned and operated company, specialising in hand-crafted Magee tweed picture frames capturing the heritage of our country.
Since launching the business last year, Ava’s innovative products have become popular gifts worldwide, and she has sold frames as far as New Zealand.
Irish Tweedscapes by Ava Mc Loughlin
The Abbey Vocational School Transition Year student was selected as the county winner for the senior category for the Student Enterprise Programme on Friday March 26. She will now go on to take part in the Student Enterprise Programme final on May 14. Ava also won the regional finals of The Network of Teaching Entrepreneurship NFTE Programme in the business plan category. She will be participating in those semi finals in early May.
Irish Tweedscapes began with standard design of a map of Ireland or county. Ava then diversified into occasions such as Christmas, Valentines, Mother’s Day and Easter frames etc. Her products are innovative because the frames give people a piece of tweed for their homes at a cheaper price. It also shares “a small piece of home” with people who are living abroad.
Frames are €15 each and can be ordered through her social media accounts Facebook: Irish Tweedscapes, Instagram: Irish_Tweedscapes or by emailing her at irishtweedscapes@gmail.com
Each order can be customised for each individual customer, making every tweedscape special.
Ava’s hometown is embedded in her craft, and she was fortunate to secure a feature display in Magee of Donegal. Frames can be purchased in store when it reopens. She has also been featured in Sunday World Magazine for top 3 Valentine’s gifts in Ireland.
The Student Enterprise Programme in Donegal saw over 500 students from 19 local schools taking part this year. Fifteen schools were represented in the county final across 32 businesses and nearly 150 students.
