Longford students secure national accolades at Enterprise Final

Fern & Foam is a homemade soap and Boot Buddy is a novel football boot drying rack

Published 21st May 2026, 21:00 BST Updated 22nd May 2026, 08:00 BST Longford County Council Fern & Foam is a homemade soap and Boot Buddy is a novel football boot drying rack Sign up to our Longford Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Longford Live within your account.

Students from county Longford have won the third prize in the Intermediate category and the Junior Sustainability Award at this year’s Student Enterprise Programme National Finals recently.

The Finals of the Local Enterprise Office initiative took place recently in Mullingar.

Supported by Local Enterprise Office, Longford students from Moyne Community School took home third prize in the Intermediate category while the Junior category Sustainability Award went to Ardscoil Phadraig, Granard.

The winning students were: Martinss Martinsons, Moyne CS and James Denneny, Ardscoil Phadraig, Granard who worked under the guidance of their teachers, Padraig Doherty and Linda Reilly respectively.

Martins Martinsons of Moyne Community School was the Intermediate category third Prize winner for ‘Fern & Foam’. Also pictured is Teri Smith - Enterprise Ireland, Alan Dillon, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and Kieran Comerford – LEO. | Longford County Council Their student enterprise was called: Fern & Foam and Boot Buddy.

Fern & Foam is a homemade soap made with mostly recycled materials and Boot Buddy is a novel football boot drying rack upcycled form building material.

The event was hosted by broadcasters Rick O’Shea and Ruth Scott, and they were joined during the ceremony by Junior Enterprise Minister Alan Dillon to announce the winners across the three main categories.

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Minister Dillon described it as ‘one of the great days for Irish entrepreneurship’ in the country.

“We get a chance to see almost 90 businesses started by secondary school students from across the country who have all been shortlisted for the finals and that in itself is an amazing achievement from the 30,000 pupils who started last September.

“These are students who have come up with brilliant ideas and forged them into businesses, making sales and understanding and learning the skills it takes to become an entrepreneur.

“No matter what path they choose in life those skills will stand by them but we hope that many of the students we see today will go on to become the start-up leaders and entrepreneurs of the future in this country.”

Cathaoirleach of Longford County Council, Cllr Garry Murtagh said it was a ‘proud day for county Longford’. “These young people have shown imagination, care for the environment and a strong work ethic. Their success reflects well on their families, schools and communities, and it is encouraging to see such great entrepreneurial talent coming through at local level.”

Deputy Chief Executive of Longford County Council, John Brannigan said the national recognition is a ‘great credit to the students, their teachers and their schools’.

"It shows the strength of enterprise education in county Longford and the value of encouraging young people to think creatively, act responsibly and believe in their own ideas.”

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There were 88 student businesses in contention across three main categories for the Final in what is Ireland’s largest entrepreneurship programme for second level students.

Related topics: Longford Students Longford County Council Local Enterprise Office Moyne Community School Alan Dillon Sign up to our Longford Live newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know you can manage your profile, and explore all of the available newsletters from Longford Live within your account.