North Cork Students Head to National Entrepreneurship Final
North Cork students from Patrician Academy, Mallow will represent the region at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final in Mullingar on 7 May.
Students from the Patrician Academy in Mallow are set to represent North Cork at the Student Enterprise Programme National Final in May, after impressing judges at the regional competition held at Springfort Hall Hotel.
Cork County Council's Local Enterprise Office Cork North & West confirmed that the school will fly the flag for the region in both the intermediate and senior categories at the national showpiece, taking place at the Mullingar Park Hotel on Thursday, 7 May 2026.
This year's North Cork final saw over 700 students from 16 schools take part in the regional programme. Nationally, the initiative saw more than 30,000 students from over 500 secondary schools participate in 2025/2026.
In the Intermediate Category, Dylan Walsh will represent North Cork with his business, DW Sports. The Senior Category will see Rory O'Leary, Bill Palmer, Conor O'Leary and Ben Norton take to the national stage with their business Crius AI, an app designed to help café and restaurant owners manage their operations.
North Cork has a strong track record at national level. Smooth Remove from Boherbue Community School took first place in the senior category at the 2019 National Awards, while Eoin and Mark Sheehan from Patrician Academy's Sheehan Exterior Clean claimed a national award in 2024. Presentation Secondary School, Mitchelstown, has also previously won the Best Display Award with Wrap it Up.
The Student Enterprise Programme is funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland and delivered by 31 Local Enterprise Offices across the country. Since its launch in 2003, more than 440,000 students have taken part.
The Mayor of the County of Cork, Cllr Mary Linehan Foley, offered her congratulations:
"We have a very successful student enterprise programme in North Cork. Our national finalists are excellent ambassadors for the programme and we wish them the very best of luck on the 7th of May. What our students are learning from the programme is that with the right supports and encouragement, they can take an idea from the classroom and develop it into a real-life business. The skills they learn along the way, such as business planning, market research, selling and teamwork, will help them become more entrepreneurial throughout their future careers."
Further information is available at www.studententerprise.ie.