Published on: Thursday, 01 June 2017

Young, inspiring and determined. These are just a few words used to describe students in the Enactus Ireland programme who have spent the last 12 months creating and implementing their social projects to make a real change in their communities.

On May 31st, the Chartered Accountants House hosted the annual Enactus Ireland National Competition, which saw a showcase and a celebration of the positive impact and innovation our students are having at third level.

Teams in 10 Higher Education Institutions across the country were joined by business leaders, academics and alumni for a world-class show of excellence in social entrepreneurial action. Their projects, with a focus on civic engagement, support and empower people from all walks of life, including individuals who have communication impairments, ex-prisoners and young TY students.

This year, Enactus CIT created a project called Compass Crafts where they partnered with Churchfield Community Trust to help individuals leaving the prison system integrate into society through learning relevant workplace skills. The team build a website and empowered one individual from Churchfield to use it.

Terence O’Rourke, Chairperson of Enactus Ireland, said: “All the student teams involved this year have shown tremendous understanding of how their entrepreneurial skills and talents can be used to bring about real change in their communities. Each team’s passion, determination and desire to transform lives is inspirational.”

Enactus Ireland is sponsored by KPMG, Bank of Ireland, Abbott, AIG, CarTrawler, Enterprise Rent-a-Car, KBC Bank, Merc Partners, Musgrave Group, New Ireland Assurance, The Ireland Funds, Unilever, Willis Towers Watson, Havas, HSBC and Microsoft.

Enactus Ireland is supported by Chartered Accountants House, Opel Ireland and The Irish Times.

For more information on Enactus, visit http://enactusireland.org/