DkIT Students showcase their businesses in Dundalk Credit Union

On Friday 8th of April six DkIT Student Businesses, all recipients of the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund, showcased their products and services to Dundalk Credit Union staff, board members and customers.

DkIT is at the forefront in Ireland in promoting enterprise to its student population and has a dedicated resource, Student Enterprise@ DkIT to encourage students to consider business ownership and self employment as a career option. Over past two years Dundalk Credit Union has supported these efforts and came up with a fresh idea for encouraging student enterprise at DKIT. Realising that an essential ingredient to getting any business idea up and running, is funding, Dundalk Credit Union kindly sponsor the Student Innovation Fund for the benefit of ALL undergraduate and post-graduate students from all schools at DKIT. Billy Doyle, General Manager Dundalk Credit Union, puts it in perspective stating “at the core of entrepreneurship is a self help ethos and the benefits of self help have never been more important than in the Ireland of today”.

To date a total of 15 students have been successful in receiving the fund. All are at different stages – product development, presales and some are trading. The Showcase event brought together six businesses that are very much in sales mode.

The six student businesses showcased were as follows;

Peter Carroll - Mara Irish Surf Co.

Peter was a final year student in DkIT when he decided to set up a business that is all about Irish surfing. A keen surfer himself that absolutely adores surfing the Irish coastline, Pete's goal is to build a business that embraces the Irish surfing culture while providing quality water sports equipment that is specifically tailored for surfing in the unique Irish water and conditions. For further information on Mara Irish Surf Co. visit www.marasurf.com.

Cathal Johnson - www.cathaljohnson.com

Cathal is an Irish harmonica player aiming to build a business from research he carried out for his final year dissertation. Successful in his application for the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund, Cathal used the grant for web development costs. Speaking during the Showcase, Cathal remarked that the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund was an “essential ingredient in getting his website up and running and the first step to getting his business on the market”.

Geraldine Hoey - Lurgangreen Art gallery

Geraldine launched her art gallery business as a first year student in March 2010. Her aim is to present local art in an easily accessible pleasant way and at affordable prices. All pieces are original art, focusing primarily on contemporary figurative, still life and realism. Many of the gallery's artists are represented in public, corporate and private collections.

Geraldine received the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund to help her market the gallery and to have a website developed. View Geraldine business online at www.lurgangreenart.com. According to Geraldine “The Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund helped me set up my website and it is here that my customers view my work, contact me and then visit my shop in order to buy. My website has built my customer base, thanks to the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund”.

Andrew Poga – Atlantic Medical

Atlantic medical has introduced a revolutionary brand of medical consumables to the Irish market. The company is the sole supplier of the product, Seni, in Ireland. The products are not only more breathable, comfortable and cost effective but also beginning to appear in a number of nursing homes across the country.

James Gogarty- On the other hand

The Right Place for the Left Handed is one of the newest companies to become involved in Student Enterprise and focuses on the provision of products specialised for left handed people.  James presented a sample of his products on the day and will use the Dundalk Credit Union Student Innovation Fund for further development of his business.

Sean Gilleece- Electronic Intervals

Sean’s company goal is to bring music followers the best that the Irish scene has to offer in Dubstep, Drum N bass, Electro, Breakcore, Electronica and more. Electronic Intervals are involved with the newest artists in an entirely new Irish showcase of underground music & visual shows. Electronic Intervals started as a promotion group set up with the idea of filling the gap between the band scene and the dj scene by combining live electronic music with band elements to encompass everyone's tastes.

Covering all tastes from Hardcore to hip hop, electro to drill n' bass. Literally anything can, and does, go at Electronic Intervals!  Hosting regular events in the Spirit Store in Dundalk, everyone is guaranteed to hear something on the night to their taste.

The event provided an opportunity for the students to showcase their businesses and also to make some sales. It also allowed the members of Dundalk Credit Union to see the range of student businesses that they have been supporting and also the impact the fund has had on getting these businesses off the ground. It is the likes of these students that are helping to brighten Ireland’s future. As Tom D’Arcy Treasurer puts it “ we don’t expect all of the students to start huge businesses but if they succeed in supporting only themselves the initiative would have been well worth it”.