Young people from Mayo reach Foróige entrepreneurship final

A group of young Mayo people have made the final of Foróige’s Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship.

Foróige members nationwide attended the awards ceremony at Richmond Barracks to showcase their businesses.

The closely-fought national final saw the top eight young entrepreneurs in the ‘Best Business’ category have the opportunity to pitch their business to an expert panel of judges from some of Ireland’s leading companies, as they battled it out to be crowned Foróige NFTE ‘Youth Entrepreneur of the Year 2024’. 

Rockenga by Felicia Bieber 16, Ciara Wash 16, John Conway 16 from Our Ladies Secondary School, Belmullet, was one of the businesses in this category.

Rockenga is a frame production company based on the Mayo coast where rocks and seashells are gathered from local beaches on the Wild Atlantic Way and are used to create design ideas wrapped in a beautiful white wooden base frame.

Sustainable Sparks by Dylan Cummins 16, Charlotte Sherwin 16, Joshua Lally 16, Zack Stone 16 by Scoil Mhuire Agus Padraig, Swinford, reached the Innovation Category final. 

Sustainable Sparks is a business making fire pits from recycled washing machine drums. The product, made from 100% recycled materials, will look great in your garden, but is light enough to bring to the beach or campsite, and fit in the boot of your car.

Each young person participating in the final completed the Foróige Network for

The Foróige Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship Programme (NFTE) is a youth entrepreneurship, education and development programme for young people experiencing disadvantage and adversity.

Speaking at the event, Odhrán O’Mahony, Chairperson of Foróige, said that history proves that the experience participants gain from being involved in NFTE is ‘often life changing’. 

“It lights a spark that changes the way young people think about themselves and their own capability that is quite remarkable. It’s a spark that, once lit, burns continuously through their lifetime so that they can do more, be more and achieve more,” he concluded.