Creativity, hard graft and willingness to invest their own hard-earned cash were the hallmarks of the primary school Entrepreneurs who took part in the Junior Entrepreneur Programme All Ireland Showcase Day at the RDS in Dublin this week .Five and half thousand children from thirty counties arrived by bus to the RDS to display their classroom projects which have created an astonishing profit of €198,000 from sales of €320,000 since the start of the year. It’s the tenth year of the programme which is headed by entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly and sponsored by his company Tweak, supported by other entrepreneurs in their localities throughout Ireland.
The long journey to Dublin was rewarded with an exciting day with a chance to see the stars – Dragon’s Den star and East Coast Bakehouse Co-Founder Alison Cowzer interviewed a bevy of entrepreneurs including David McKernan who recently sold his company Java Republic for €30m. Medical testing entrepreneur Dr. Ann Shortt of Full Health Medical, Eva Carri of Girlcrew, Caroline Keeling of Keelings Fruit and Ray McManus Sportsfile.com were among those who shared their secrets with the budding entrepreneurs.Teacher Fiona Santry of Castlemartyr National School’s charges won ‘Class of the Year’ for a creative business called ‘GalackTyco Trading Cards’. This set of cards, which sold for €2. The back story revolved around a space age story about the GalackTyco galaxy created by the pupils, along with a wide range of planets and warring characters seeking control of the galaxy.Every pupil invested in the venture and they finally netted a profit of €717 from sales of €1,118.The most profitable winner was a 308 page Quiz book called ‘Beat the Quiz Master by Scoil Na Mbraithre in Tuam, Co. Galway, which included 3,000 questions for children and adults. This mammoth publishing task created a profit of €8,799 from €12,000 sales.
