Tuesday, 2nd March 2010
A team from the Tipperary Institute was announced yesterday as the winner of theNewstalk106-108 fm Student Enterprise Competition by Ms Lucy Gaffney, Chairperson of Communicorp Limited and Director of Digicel Group. The prize-giving ceremony took place at the National College of Ireland (NCI), host of this year’s competition.

The winning team beat off strong competition from the three other finalist teams from DIT, GMIT and IT Tallaght.  The four finalist teams were given a case study based on a real-life business scenario for which they had 3 hours to devise a detailed solution. Each team was then given 30 minutes to present their business plan to a panel of judges consisting of Frank Cronin, CEO of Newstalk 106-108 fm, Ivan Yates, Presenter of ‘Breakfast’ on Newstalk 106-108 fm and Managing Director of Celtic Bookmakers, and Mary Davis, Managing Director of Special Olympics Europe / Eurasia.

Speaking yesterday, Denis O’Brien, Competition Chairperson, said, “I congratulate the team from Tipperary Institute on their fantastic achievement. Their hard work and dedication demonstrates what this competition is all about - developing an understanding of business management and promoting early-stage entrepreneurship among third level students. This year’s participants displayed tremendous enthusiasm and I would like to thank all teams and their team coaches for their continued commitment to this competition.”   

A record 1,400 students across 350 teams from Ireland’s 15 Institutes of Technology and the National College of Ireland took part in this year’s Newstalk 106-108 fm Student Enterprise Competition, which is in association with The Irish Times.

Commenting on the level of participation in this year’s competition, Mr O’Brien added, “The record level of entries for this year’s competition highlights the motivation and commitment among third level students based in the various institutions. At a time when enterprise and innovation are crucial to the return to growth in this country, the determination of the participants to succeed is very evident. Since the competition was established in 2006, we have seen some outstanding business talent emerge and this year’s competition has been no exception.”

The winning team, along with their team coach, Fiona Browne, will travel to the Caribbean this summer, where they will shadow senior executives in Digicel Group. Digicel is the fastest growing mobile operator in the Caribbean and new entrant to the Central American market.

“Winning this competition is an absolute honour,” said Eimear Corbett, Team Captain from Tipperary Institute. “The experience we have gained throughout each stage of the competition has been invaluable. We’re extremely excited to be travelling to the Caribbean this summer and, look forward observing how a company as renowned as Digicel operates in the area.”

 

www.newstalk.ie/studententerprise.