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2021 Enactus Ireland Champions - Pictured at the 2019 Enactus Ireland National Competition are James Crotty, Catríona O’Halloran, Jack O’Connor, Sikhulekile Ruth Ndlovu, Elaine Gleason, Leanne Delaney, Aoíbhin Jordan and Faculty Adviser Brian Shee. 2021 Enactus Ireland Champions - Pictured at the 2019 Enactus Ireland National Competition are James Crotty, Catríona O’Halloran, Jack O’Connor, Sikhulekile Ruth Ndlovu, Elaine Gleason, Leanne Delaney, Aoíbhin Jordan and Faculty Adviser Brian Shee.

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University of Limerick crowned 2021 Enactus Ireland Champions 

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2021 Enactus Ireland Champions – Pictured at the 2019 Enactus Ireland National Competition are James Crotty, Catríona O’Halloran, Jack O’Connor, Sikhulekile Ruth Ndlovu, Elaine Gleason, Leanne Delaney, Aoíbhin Jordan and Faculty Adviser Brian Shee.

University of Limerick crowned 2021 Enactus Ireland Champions 

University of Limerick was crowned the winner of the Enactus Ireland National Competition on Thursday through a final event, which was produced by RTÉ and streamed via Enactus Ireland social media pages to family and friends and a wider audience of academic and business stakeholders. 

One of the winning team’s projects, Anytime of the Month, sets out to alleviate the effects of period poverty in Ireland and tackles the stigma and lack of education around periods.  


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Another project was Moya Nua, which has developed agricultural seeding planters for smallholder farmers in Africa. The project utilises simplified agricultural technologies that are both ergonomic and environmentally friendly. 

The annual social enterprise competition, supported by founding sponsor KPMG, this year saw colleges from 10 Higher Education Institute’s (HEI) across the country compete for the title where the winning team will go forward to represent Ireland at the Enactus World Cup this October.   

Set to be hosted virtually again this year, the Enactus World Cup will see 36 countries present their social innovation projects. The projects must align with the UN sustainable development goals and prove they can generate real social and environmental impacts. 

To celebrate this year’s competition, Enactus Ireland set out to raise awareness about social enterprises and their impact on broader society, particularly during Covid-19. While Enactus primarily works with third-level projects, a significant number go on to become viable social enterprises that contribute substantially to their communities and local economies.  

Karina Howley, Head of Corporate Citizenship and Diversity, KPMG and Enactus Board Member, said, “KPMG is proud to support a competition that enables student social entrepreneurs to develop their projects into initiatives that make a real impact to Irish society. In an academic year impacted by the pandemic, the importance of this competition and the work the students do cannot be overstated. The teams have done a tremendous job once again and it is fantastic to see the level of interest for ethical business and social impact growing amongst our third-level students.” 

Ashutosh Saxena, Director, Ireland Operations and Engineering, Deem and Enactus newest Board Member said: “On behalf of DEEM, I would like to congratulate all participants on a wonderful competition with fantastic projects on display, I think it’s safe to say the future is bright for these students. I’d also like to congratulate the winner on their innovation and commitment to giving back to the community. “ 

Enactus Ireland Chairman, Terence O’Rourke said, “On behalf of Enactus and the whole judging panel, I would like to congratulate the winning team from University of Limerick and wish them luck for the World Cup. The winning team displayed great entrepreneurial leadership, innovation and were able to clearly demonstrate the impact of this project on the community.” 

“I would also like to congratulate all the participants, although there can only be one winner, the standard as ever was fantastic. Finally, I would like to thank all the supporters including KPMG, Bank of Ireland, Deem, Aer Lingus, Enterprise Ireland, Enterprise RentACar, KBC Bank, Unilever, Citi Foundation, ReThink Ireland, The Department of Rural and Community Development, The Dormant Accounts Fund, Standard Chartered Foundation, Coca Cola Thank You Fund, RTÉ and Chartered Accountants Ireland. 

About Enactus Ireland 

Enactus is a leadership and skills development programme for third level students. Experiential learning through social enterprise development, provides the medium for enhancing the skills required for the Future of Work, while positively impacting our communities. 

Students gain a greater understanding of the complexities of social issues. They identify solutions and implement projects that tackle social problems such as homelessness, mental health issues and environmental challenges. 

Enactus training includes exploring social issues, ideation, innovation and implementation. Students gain real world experience working with community partners to implement their projects.  

Students are supported with vital mentoring and guidance from both academic and corporate partners.  

Enactus students are prepared for the Future of Work while addressing social issues and creating positive impact in our communities.

For previous Enactus stories go HERE 

For more information on Enactus Ireland go HERE 

                                                                                     

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Richard is a presenter, producer, songwriter and actor. He was named the Limerick Person of the Year (2011) and won an online award at the Metro Éireann Media and Multicultural Awards (2011) for promoting multi-culturalism online. Richard says that the ilovelimerick.com concept is very much a community driven project that aims to document life in Limerick. So, that in 20 years time people can look back and remember the events that were making the headlines.