DCU crowned 2018 Enactus Ireland Champions
Image caption, L-R: Liam Redmond, Country Manager of Enactus Ireland, Robert Kelly, Thomas Hand, Daniel Kyne, Ashling McGovern, Josh Clinton, Terence O’Rourke, Chairman of Enactus Ireland and Sinéad Burke activist and guest speaker.
Enactus Dublin City University were crowned the winners of the Enactus Ireland National Competition which took place yesterday evening in the Chartered Accountants House, Dublin 2.
Presented by Irish writer and activist Sinéad Burke, the Enactus Ireland National Competition saw colleges from 10 HEI’s across the country compete for the title with the winning team being closely followed by Enactus NUI Galway and semi-finalists Enactus Trinity College Dublin and University of Limerick.
Enactus Dublin City University will go forward to represent Ireland at the Enactus World Cup in Silicon Valley, U.S.A this coming October. This innovative competition sees students, business leaders, academics and alumni come together for a showcase and celebration of the positive and innovative projects created by students at third level.
DCU presented the impacts of eight projects with their headline project being Second Scoop, a catering company that empowers asylum seekers and drastically reimagines societal integration through mentorship and work experience. Asylum seekers are taught sales and event organising skills, whilst workshops are also run on cross cultural adaptation subjects.
Threads, their second headline project, is a clothing company that provides people in the asylum seeking community with the skills and opportunities to upcycle old and unwanted jeans. Asylum seekers are taught how to work with denim and how to sew through workshops, provided by our team who have been professionally trained in these areas.
This year’s competition saw innovative and socially inclusive projects presented by all colleges around the country and judges were particularly impressed with the energy and creative thinking presented by all the students.
The DCU team comprises students from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, DCUBS, Fiontar & Scoil na Gaelige, and Computer Applications, and were supported during the year by Faculty Advisors Dr. Emer Ní Bhrádaigh (Fiontar & SnG), Dr Ciarán Dunne (SALIS), Róisín Lyons (DCUBS) and John Byrne (DCUBS).
Enactus Chairman, Terence O’Rourke said:
“The energy from the students is contagious and this year again we have seen a truly amazing range of projects and initiatives creating real community impacts. We are very excited for Enactus Dublin City University to represent Ireland at the Enactus World Cup.”
About Enactus Ireland
Founded in November 2011 Enactus Ireland is one of 36 country organisations around the world that operates an Enactus programme, bringing together student, academic and business leaders who are committed to using the power of entrepreneurial action solve community challenges. Guided by academic advisors and business experts, the student leaders of Enactus create and implement community empowerment projects and this experience not only transforms lives, it helps students develop the kind of talent, skills and perspective that are essential to leadership in an ever-more complicated and challenging world.
National champion teams from all over the world advance to the prestigious Enactus World Cup, being held this year in Silicon Valley, U.S.A. In addition to the community focus of the programme, the Enactus initiative provides leadership and career opportunities for the participating students.
Each team has had access to support and mentorship from a range of Enactus partners including, KPMG, Bank of Ireland, Abbott, AIG, CarTrawler, Citi, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, KBC Bank, Merc Partners, Musgrave Group, New Ireland Assurance, The Ireland Funds, Unilever, Havas, HSBC and Microsoft. Enactus Ireland is also kindly supported by the Chartered Accountants Ireland and The Irish Times.