Louth students test their entrepreneurial skills through DkIT’s TY Entrepreneurship Programme

Over 65 Transition Year students recently had the opportunity to put their entrepreneurial skills to the test by taking part in DkIT’s TY Entrepreneurship Programme. 

Students from the De La Salle College, Dundalk; St Louis Secondary School, Dundalk and Our Lady's College, Greenhills, Drogheda took part in this year’s HEA-funded programme, which was designed to develop the TY students’ entrepreneurial, creative and innovation skills through the development of a product Pro-biotic Boba Tea. Participants in the programme had to consider all stages of product development including branding, formulation, packaging, manufacturing, and the distribution of their product. 

Each school spent a full week with the DkIT programme team (Dr. Bridget Kelly, Dr. Kate Johnston, Paul Durcan, Maryellen Kelledy and Dr. Peter Ryan) including members from the School of Engineering, School of Health & Science and School of Business & Humanities who guided them through the development of their products. 

Maryellen Kelledy, Department of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering, DkIT said: 

“The TY Entrepreneurship Programme is one I and my colleagues in Business, Engineering and Science really look forward to every year. It is the perfect example of collaboration across DkIT and the huge impact that can have. Each time we run the programme, the student ideas get more and more creative and I have no doubt that these young people will go on to do amazing things.”

Six groups of TY students had the opportunity to showcase their new skills by pitching their products to an experienced judging panel at a showcase held in DkIT. The panel of judges including Daniel Mc Loughlin, Owner and Founder of Rocksalt Cafes; Coleman Ledwith, a former Head of Department of Electronic and Mechanical Engineering at DkIT; Emma Duffy, Owner and Founder of My Forever Tooth Fairy and Pauline Clarke, Business Owner at Kookee had the opportunity to hear from the participating students about their designs through a number of presentations. The judges then had the opportunity to interview each group on the process behind their product development and challenge them on their ideas before revealing if they would be willing to invest in each company. 

Daniel McLoughlin, Owner and Founder of Rocksalt Cafes said:

"It was great to see so many young passionate future entrepreneurs present their businesses. The hard work, dedication and creativity was amazing to see from a very bright and talented group. It was a brilliant experience to be part of!"

The judges also awarded a number of prizes to participants in recognition of their excellent contributions to the presentations. Finn Murphy from the De La Salle College was presented with the award for the best speaker across all presentations. The Judge's Prize was awarded to Baileigh Hoey from Our Lady’s College for her knowledge of her team’s product and Rocksalt Vouchers were presented to James Gorham from the De La Salle College and Amy Meehan from St Louis Secondary School for their excellent presentation and marketing skills.

Team PROBIOBA including Ffion Dolan, Sadhbh McElroy, Nancy Coleman and Doaa Elhag from St Louis Secondary School was announced as the overall winner for their Bubble Tea product idea, which tapped into the lifestyle market and had a particular focus on the use of appealing, sustainable packaging. Martina Galligan, TY Co-ordinator from St. Louis Secondary School described the programme as “an amazing experience for TY students.”

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Speaking after the presentations, Diarmuid O’Callaghan, President of DkIT said:

 “It was wonderful to welcome local Transition Year students to DkIT to work alongside our skilled staff and test out a number of the facilities across campus. The calibre of presentations from today’s groups was so impressive and I'm confident that the TY Entrepreneurship Programme marks the beginning of promising careers for many of the talented young people who we heard from today."

Emma Duffy, Owner and Founder of My Forever Tooth Fairy said:

"It was an absolute privilege to be a dragon judge for this year’s Entrepreneurial School Week Programme. I was genuinely impressed by what the students achieved in just one week—their creativity, problem-solving, and entrepreneurial mindset were truly inspiring. The future of entrepreneurship is bright, and it’s so refreshing to see initiatives like this giving young people the opportunity to develop real-world skills. At 16, entrepreneurship was never presented as an option to me, so it’s fantastic to see students not only exploring it but excelling in it. This programme sparks creativity and shows young people that becoming an entrepreneur is an achievable path. A huge well done to all involved!"

The programme’s success is due to collaboration across the whole of DkIT, including Schools leadership team, technicians, administration teams, student helpers, IT, catering, marketing and caretaking.