Shop owners in the Cork suburb of Douglas will have some additional competition tomorrow, in the form of more than 300 students who will be selling their own products.
The schools enterprise fair, which is taking place in Douglas Village Shopping Centre, will see more than 100 companies taking part – including Splash Apparel, which creates tie-dyed clothing for festivals, PaperLight which sells firelogs made from recycled paper, and Little Green Monster, a mini company from Ballincollig Community School which specialises in bins encouraging children to recycle.
Culinary Ninja, a cookbook developed by students in Kinsale and T.I.K, which is a boardgame created by students in Glanmire Community School to help young children learn the time, are also among the innovative products being sold on the day.
South Cork Enterprise Board chief executive Sean O’Sullivan said the number of students taking part in the fair has doubled this year.
“Inspiring young minds and giving students the skills and confidence to become young entrepreneurs is at the heart of the Schools Enterprise Programme,” he said.
Talking about student businesses, 18-year-old Amy Keatinge from Tallaght in Dublin was last week named European Youth Entrepreneur of the Year at a ceremony in Brussels.
She won the award for her business CoZey SoundZ, which manufactures and sells customised ear muffs and cushions with inbuilt ear phones.
