County and City Enterprise Boards endeavour to foster an environment where increasing numbers of Irish people will establish and run their own enterprises. In pursuit of this objective the Boards have supported teachers in the delivery of a number of action based enterprise programmes designed to give students practical experience of setting up and running their own business.

The Student Enterprise Awards was introduced in the 2002/03 academic year and has proven to be a great success with very exciting National Finals held in Tullamore each year. The Awards Programme will continue to offer students the opportunity to take a business from the idea stage, through market research to production, selling, record keeping, management and finally writing a comprehensive report on their activities.

Participation in the programme will encourage students to consider becoming entrepreneurs in the future and they will be much better prepared by their experience. The experience of running a business brings many other benefits to students; it enhances creativity, improves communication skills and provides practical uses for business studies topics.

In addition to organising County and National Finals, Boards are in a position to provide assistance to teachers in the delivery of the programme. To find out what assistance is available, please contact your local Enterprise Board or check out the information on the website.