Two of our TY mini companies represented Coláiste Pobail Bheanntraí in the national finals of the NFTE (Network For Teaching Entrepreneurship) / Foróige enterprise competition in Dublin on Tuesday 16th May. This was the culmination of a fantastic journey that began with the County competition on March 28th. Four of our mini companies had to pitch to a panel of judges in Cork with Rock Paper Seeds and Clear Cut Jewellery being selected to go forward to the National semi-final stage. This time both companies had to pitch online and after impressing the judges with their confidence, commitment to sustainability, perseverance and entrepreneurial qualities, in a phenomenal feat both teams qualified for the National Finals which took place in the historical Richmond Barracks in Dublin on 16th May.
Over 6,000 students and 240 teachers from all over Ireland took part in the NFTE programme this year. This shows the high standard of competition the two groups had to overcome to reach the National Finals. It is worth noting that we were the only school to have two mini companies competing in the finals. We are so proud of them here in CPB and they richly deserved their success and recognition!
Rock Paper Seeds (Roísín Connolly, Maggie Kingston, Anna Conlon and Anna Towns) was one of 9 companies competing in the Social Enterprise category.
Clear Cut Jewellery (Meadhbh Sammon, Tempy Stock. Aoife O’ Shea and Elaine McSweeney) was one of 9 companies competing in the Business category.
Well done to both teams – you represented our school, town and county exceptionally well and were highly commended by the judges on the day.
We would like to sincerely thank Foróige for all their help and support along the way. We would like to especially thank Laura O’ Connell from Foróige, who mentored and supported our teams throughout their journey. Of course none of this would have been possible without the dedication and support of Ms Nora Murphy for both companies. 
