Administrative Office, Mulroy College, St.Catherine's VS

Two Donegal ETB Schools Participate in NFTE European Finals in Austria

Posted on by Donegal ETB
Large group of people sitting and standing behind a desk.
22
Sep
Large group of people sitting and standing behind a desk.
Donegal ETB European NFTE finalists pictured with their teachers and Principals, along with Donegal ETB Deputy Chairperson Patsy McVicar, NFTE Programme Officer Jane McClean and Donegal ETB Director of Schools Dr Martin Gormley before they left for Austria

Donegal Education and Training Board (ETB) students from Mulroy College in Milford and St Catherine’s Vocational School in Killybegs travelled to Kitzbuhel in Austria last week to represent Ireland in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) European final (Youthstart European Awards 2023). Both teams won bronze awards in their respective categories.

Group of people sitting and standing behind a desk
Mulroy College NFTE team L&M Books with (standing left-right) Donegal ETB Deputy Chairperson Patsy McVicar, teacher Karen Stewart, NFTE Programme Officer Jane McClean, Mulroy College Principal Fiona Temple and Donegal ETB Director of Schools Dr Martin Gormley.

In 2022 Mulroy College students Livvy Curran, Millie McCourt and Lucy Van Ruiven won the National Award in the Social Enterprise category with the business ‘L&M Books’, designing an activity book called ‘The Hidden Me’ to educate children on hidden disabilities. This year (2023) St Catherine’s Vocational School students Aimee Hegarty, Abbie Boyle and Aoife Smith won the overall Entrepreneur of the Year in the Business category with their business ‘Simply Soap’, creating handmade soap using a goat’s milk base which is rich in Vitamin E and highly moisturising.

Group of people sitting and standing behind a desk.
St Catherine’s Vocational School NFTE team Simply Soap with (standing left-right) Donegal ETB Deputy Chairperson Patsy McVicar, teacher Rebecca Fullerton, NFTE Programme Officer Jane McClean, St Catherine’s Vocational School Principal Anne Marie Luby and Donegal ETB Director of Schools Dr Martin Gormley.

The NFTE Programme is a world-recognised, youth entrepreneurship education and development programme which is provided by Foróige in Ireland and is affiliated to NFTE International. It gives young people the opportunity to design, create and implement a working business whether that be profit-making or a social enterprise. The NFTE model focuses on relevant and transferable skills that these young people can use as young adults in everyday life as well as in their careers.

There are four main categories in the NFTE programme: Business, Innovation, Social Enterprise and Special Recognition. NFTE entrepreneurs (students and young people) work towards these four awards each year, through various competitions such as regional, semi and national finals.