The Liffey Trust is delighted to announce awardee Oscar Bourke (First-year Business student) as the first recipient of The Dr. Séamus Mc Dermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship for Dublin City University.
Recipient of the Dr Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship, Oscar Bourke.
The Liffey Trust provides yearly scholarships to undergraduate students from University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, the University of Galway, and now as of this year, Dublin City University. Oscar is the first student from DCU to receive the scholarship after entering a partnership with the university last year. He is now the 19th student to receive the Dr.Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship across all universities since its creation in 2017.
Liffey Trust Chairman, Aidan Corless welcomed Oscar as the first scholar from DCU:
“Oscar can now connect with our other scholars from Trinity, UCD, University of Galway and soon to be UCC through our Enterprise Centre in the Liffey Trust offices. Oscar has already shown a talent in entrepreneurship so we look forward to hearing from him as he progresses.”
The inaugural Dr Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship was awarded to Oscar Bourke at a hackathon event in DCU Business School. The award was presented during the DCU “Hack4Change” event, which saw over 700 students working in teams to create innovative solutions to social problems based on the theme of the Circular Economy. The event, which is part of the Learning Innovation for Enterprise (LIFE) module, included industry speakers and mentors, prizes, and the presentation of the Dr. Séamus McDermott Scholarship.
Speaking on the award, scholarship recipient Oscar Bourke said:
“This is a lovely opportunity. There were five of us on the shortlist and I didn’t think I’d find out until today, but I was delighted to hear last week that I won. I haven’t decided what I’ll do with the money from the scholarship, but it’s great to know I have it to invest in my next big idea.”
Pictured left to right: Dr Seamus McDermott, Oscar Bourke, and Professor Dominic Elliott (Executive Dean)
The Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship has the principal purpose of promoting the concepts of job creation, entrepreneurial development, and education for life, in the minds of undergraduate students commencing their studies at DCU. Oscar, who has founded two businesses, was chosen from almost 700 applicants for the scholarship, which is worth €9,000 over the course of his studies.
Speaking on the scholarship selection process, Catherine Faherty, Assistant Professor in Enterprise with DCU Business School, said:
“Oscar is a worthy recipient of the 2022/23 Dr Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship from The Liffey Trust. The selection process was very competitive,with almost 700 students, but Oscar’s entrepreneurial initiative and ideas stood out to the judges.”
Séamus McDermott founded the Liffey Trust in 1984 in order to incubate, mentor, and support entrepreneurs and community enterprises including the provision of office space. Today, The Liffey Trust continues to assist job creation through reduced rents for businesses, mentors businesses, invests significantly in University entrepreneurial scholarships while partnering with 4 leading colleges in Ireland, and runs a business hub encouraging Liffey Trust scholars to share stories and network. His extraordinary commitment to others was acknowledged recently when he was awarded the honorary degree of “Doctor of Engineering” by University College Dublin.
Speaking at the event, Liffey Trust Founder and Director General, Dr Séamus McDermott said:
“At the Liffey Trust, we started the entrepreneurial scholarships for educational purposes, but we want to reward students for work outsideconventional education. For the scholarship, we ask students to tell us what they’ve done besides their Leaving Certificate, and Oscar has set up two businesses already. There’s so much more to education beyond exams, and more to college than lectures. Everyone here can learn from each other and help each other, the social aspect of college can’t be neglected.”
A huge congratulations to Oscar on this fantastic achievement. We look forward to watching his businesses grow over the coming years.
Pictured left to right: Oscar’s Mother (Janine), Oscar Bourke, and father (Gerry)