DIT hosts final stages of Newstalk Student Enterprise Competition
The semi-finals and finals of the Newstalk Student Enterprise Competition will take place in DIT on Sunday 25 and Monday 26 February 2007. In total, fourteen teams will compete in the semi-finals, including one team from DIT and one from each of the other Institutes of Technology around Ireland. They will be competing to win the fantastic overall prize of a trip to the Caribbean on a study visit to Digicel, the telecommunications company established by Irish entrepreneur, Denis O'Brien.
According to Dr. Tom Cooney, DIT Faculty of Business, the competition is designed to encourage teamwork with students co-operating and pooling their knowledge to achieve an end result. "The inaugural 'Newstalk 106 -108 Student Enterprise Competition' is designed to foster a spirit of enterprise in students attending the Institutes of technology throughout Ireland. The competition uses a 'case study' format that allows participants to research real life companies and gives students an opportunity to learn, away from the pressurised exam environment."
The competition has generated considerable interest amongst students and academic staff in all of the Institutes. Fourteen teams will compete in the semi-finals on Sunday 25th and from that round, four teams go through to the finals on the Monday 26th. The winners will be announced on Monday afternoon and Mr. Denis O'Brien will present the prize to the winning team in the Courtyard Restaurant on the ground floor in Aungier Street on Monday 26th at 4.45pm. The DIT team members are Jonathan O'Rinn, Ciarán O Mordha and team captain Alan Reddy. Their coach is Mr. Paul Donnelly.
Dr. Cooney says he and his fellow members of the competition Steering Committee believe the event will be exciting and successful. "Now that the competition is recognized within the Institutes of Technology we look forward to it becoming an annual event in the academic calendar. Digicel is delighted to host the study trip for the winning team, so we look forward to seeing who gets to go to the Caribbean!"
Supporters are welcome at the case study presentations, subject to space constraints. Room numbers will be posted up on Sunday and Monday.
The competing teams will face a high-profile judging panel who themselves represent a wide range of business and enterprise. The judges are:
Billy D'Arcy - 02
Brendan O'Reilly - Sales Placement
Derke Quinn - Linkanalysis
Domnic Coyle - The Irish Times
Jerry Keneally- Stockbyte
Jim Miley - MyHome.ie
Kevin Neary - Gamestop
Liam Shanahan - Shanahan Engineering
Maree Morrissey - Irish Entrepreneur Magazine
Marie Carroll - Unlock your potential
Ron Immink - INVENT
The Steering Committee for the Newstalk Student Enterprise Competition is chaired by Mr. Denis O'Brien and the members are:
Tom Cooney - Vice Chairman
Mary Sherry - Competition Manager
Paul O'Sullivan - Dublin Institute of Technology
Katrina Lawlor - Dublin Institute of Technology
James Morrissey - Fleishman Hillard
Morwenna Rice - Fleishman Hillard
