Wednesday, 14 May 2025
Best of luck to six brilliant youth businesses from County Donegal who have made it through to the Foroige NFTE (Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship) National Finals in Croke Park today, where they will pitch their business ideas to a national panel of NFTE Guest Judges. They will also showcase their businesses to invited guests in the venue throughout the afternoon.
The NFTE programme aims to equip young people across the county with the skills, confidence, and experience needed to thrive in entrepreneurship. The creativity, drive and innovation shown from these young entrepreneurs are a credit to the county and the NFTE programme, and gives an exciting glimpse into the bright future of enterprise throughout the county.
The businesses taking part in todays National Finals:
Scribblings
Grace Mariya Jim (Errigal College Letterkenny)
Scribblings is a platform where individuals can express themselves, find a supportive community, and improve mental well-being. It’s a space where
writing, sharing, and connecting with others create a sense of home and understanding. Your Life, Your Poem – because your thoughts, feelings, and experiences deserve a place to be heard.
Katie's Krafts
Caitlin McCauley
Katie's Krafts is a needle felting kit with materials and instructions to complete your own piece of art.
I have always loved art, especially needle felting and I'm privileged to bring the enjoyment of this craft to others.
EireKa!
(Loreto Secondary School Letterkenny)
Eireka! is a platform designed to transform STEM education across Ireland. It will offer students hands-on experience in artificial intelligence, robotics, game development, entrepreneurship, digital art, and music production.
Along with an online platform, EireKa! will provide physical technology packages; including 3D printers, Arduino kits, and robotics components to make learning tangible and exciting.
It will simplify administration for teachers by combining grading, attendance, communication, and reporting into one system.
With an affordable subscription model that reinvests into schools and full alignment with Junior and Leaving Certificate curriculums, EireKa! aims to make high-quality STEM education accessible to every student, regardless of background or school budget, preparing them not just for exams, but for life.
Gúna Gals
Muireann Ní Shuilleabháin, Ellie Ní Cnámhsí, Dáithi Ó Luagh, Ruben Ó Dochartaigh (The Rosses Community School Dungloe)
Gúna Gals is a NFTE social enterprise project founded and run by 4 TY students from the Rosses Community School, in Dungloe, Co. Donegal. Our circular economy business model is an online platform that connects like minded environmentally conscious consumers with each other via instagram.
The community creates a space where people with designer dresses can post their dresses for potential renters to rent. The dress owner earns money on their dress rather than it lying in their wardrobe and the renter can afford to wear a designer dress to their special occasion for a fraction of the cost whilst also reducing their carbon footprint.
It's a win-win- for both parties and us- we received an €8 fee for every dress posted and are confident that we are tackling the fast fashion and cost of living crisis one dress at a time. We are very excited for the future of GG as we are working on developing an app, a website and moving into other rental markets soon! Watch this space.
Blue Star Accessibility Ratings
Oisin Harold (St. Columbas College, Stranorlar)
Blue Star Accessibility Ratings is a system which is used to rate hotels on how accessible they are for people with disabilities. These disabilities could include a person with a walking impairment, hearing impairment, vision impairment and possibly many more could be rated under the Blue Star format.
The ratings will be given in a 5 Blue Star format, Similar to how hotels are rated for how luxurious they are . The Blue Star Ratings will be able to help a person with a disability decide if the hotel is suitable for them to stay in or not.
Donegal Discount Card
Bradley Boyle, Cormac Crossan (St. Eunans College, Letterkenny)
Donegal Discount Card is a digital discount card designed specifically for secondary school students in Donegal.
For just €10, students get access to exclusive discounts at local businesses, helping them save money on everyday expenses while also driving more customers to small businesses.
Huge congratulations to all the students for getting to todays final. It's an amazing achievement and showcases the ambition, innovation and creativity of the enxt generation of Donegal's entrepreneurs.
Comharirdeas and go n-éirí libh go léir! 💡💚💛
