Eight budding entrepreneurs were honoured in Dublin yesterday as the winners of the Young Manager of the Year awards - organised by Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Ireland - were announced in Dublin.
Chosen from 5,000 Leaving Certificate vocational and Leaving Certificate applied students, the winners participated in endeavours as diverse as the production of seat-belt covers, greeting cards, badges and hand-made cushions to the publication of a book entitled The Key to Building Your Own Home.
The awards give students a sense of purpose and ambition, as they see their ideas progress from the drawing board and become reality, according to Ms Della Clancy, chief executive of Junior Achievement Young Enterprise Ireland.
"They learn to work both as a team player and as an individual with a valuable contribution to make in their role sustaining a viable company," she said.
Junior Achievement is a worldwide organisation established to foster links between the classroom and the workplace.
The eight winners were: Mr Michael Sheehan (Midleton CBS, Co Cork); Ms Cliodhna Rice (Loreto College, Cavan); Ms Amy O'Donoghue (Sacred Heart, Clonakilty, Co Cork); Ms Lisa Byrne (St Joseph's, Doon, Co Limerick); Ms Siobhan McDonnell (Dundalk Grammar School, Dundalk, Co Louth); Ms Helen Smith (Loreto College, Cavan), Ms Maria O'Sullivan (Sacred Heart, Clonakilty, Co Cork), and Ms Bláithín Gallagher (Ursuline College, Sligo).
