• Coolock Craftsman Wins Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2011

• 450 businesses with collective sales of €180,000 celebrated at Awards

Thursday 5th May 2011:- Teenager Kyle McMahon (aged 18) a student attending Bonnybrook Youthreach in Coolock is the winner of the Foróige Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2011. The talented youth used his passion for working with wood to carve out his own pathway to prosperity by manufacturing handcrafted wooden toys. His products include a clock, airplane and jigsaw range.

Bonnybrook Youthreach supplied Kyle with all the necessary equipment and training. Kyle cuts all of the wood himself and hand paints each section making his products very popular to customers.

Through Market research Kyle established that he had a strong competitive advantage, in that his prices are much lower than competitors and his products can be customised and made to order. Kyle is in the process of developing a catalogue and a website and intends on expand his business in the near future. So far, his business has made a net profit of €1,372 on his Jigsaw range, €1,080 on the Airplane range and €810 on the Clock range, giving a total net profit of €3,262 over a 5 month period.

The dynamic entrepreneur was one of 1,000 students who participated in the NFTE Programme, managed and run by Foróige. The programme runs throughout the academic year in over 50 sites in Dublin Limerick, Tipperary, Donegal and Belfast.

450 businesses were set up by young people participating in the programme this year, which generated collective sales of €180,000. The average sales per business was €400.

As well as teaching business skills, the NFTE programme helps young people from disadvantaged communities to build self confidence and interpersonal skills, increase their prospects for employment and foster career and college aspirations to encourage school completion.

Overall 600 young entrepreneurs were honoured for their participation in the NFTE programme at the awards. Products showcased included recycled fashion bags, attractive signage for bins, homemade cookies, jewellery, a music website, an event management company, essential oils, a babysitters guide and a novelty Sliotar. (Full list of award winners below).

John Cahill, Chairman of the Judging Panel and Assistant Chief Executive, Foróige said, “This programme offers young people, no matter what their academic ability, the opportunity to learn and practice a range of entrepreneurial skills. The beauty of the programme is that it can be implemented in either a school or non-formal setting. The young participants grow their business idea into a plan and then put it into operation. Fostering a culture of entrepreneurship is critical to the development of a successful economy and these young people are firmly leading the way to a brighter Ireland for all of us.”

The overall winner was chosen by an expert judging panel including Bobby Kerr, CEO, Insomnia and RTE Dragon; Linda Keating, Director, Marie Keating Foundation; Frank O’Keeffe, Partner-in-Charge, Ernst and Young, Patricia Callan, Director Small Firms Association; John Cahill, Assistant CEO, Foróige and Adrian Devane, CEO, Bábógbaby.

For further information: Karen Hannify, Head of Communications, Foróige, Tel: 01 630 1560 Mob: 087 669 8982