Rachel McPartlin, age 16 from Leitrim with the business Rachel’s Heavenly Homemades, which is a Gluten Free Bakery, has won the Youth Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2018 today, Tuesday 15th May 2018, hosted by Foróige, the leading youth development organisation in Ireland, in the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, Kildare St., Dublin.
Rachel McPartlin took the title after competing against twelve hundred other young entrepreneurs throughout Ireland.
Also at the event CycleSafe, founded by Breda Magner & Evan Condon, from Limerick won the Best Innovation Award for their business which produces a product that helps increase the safety of cyclists at night, by using lasers to create temporary cycle lanes.
A Special Recognition Award was awarded to Davey Feeney, Tom Flanagan and Fraser Gaine who are founders of the business Kard in Sligo. Their business produced a discount student card to help secondary students live within their means. The boys were nominated by their CET Dervilla Casey, a teacher in their school, Summerhill College.
Seán Campbell, CEO Foróige, said “the Foróige NFTE Entrepreneurship Programme has multiple positive impacts on the young people who take part in it. Career aspirations increase; interest in attending college increases; business knowledge increases; leadership behaviour increases; and a belief that attaining goals is within their control significantly increases.
“Empowering young people is what Foróige does, and we are more than proud of everything the young people here today have achieved.
