To honour the incredible contribution of our founder, Séamus McDermott, to entrepreneurship in Ireland, The Liffey Trust provides yearly scholarships to students from University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland, Galway. The Dr Séamus Mc Dermott Scholarships are awarded on an annual basis to students who are proven entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs or SME owners/managers who are making an impact on the economy or society.
Séamus McDermott has had a life-long passion for supporting and encouraging entrepreneurs. Séamus founded the Liffey Trust in 1984 in order to incubate, mentor and support entrepreneurs and community enterprises including the provision of office space. The Trust made a conscious management decision to finance all its activities through its own efforts and without the support from the State and it has done this with great success. Since its foundation, The Liffey Trust has helped more than 200 enterprises resulting in the employment of over 800 people. The Séamus McDermott Scholarship for Entrepreneurship continues and honours Séamus’ work by supporting an entrepreneur who is resident in Ireland, to develop their business.
Trinity College Dublin
The Liffey Trust entered a partnership with Trinity College Dublin in 2017. The partnership entails 4 scholarships per year of €10,000 each for 10 years. The Dr. Séamus Mc Dermott MBA Scholarship is awarded to students who are proven entrepreneurs undertaking the MBA programme at Trinity Business School. This support will help to develop their business and managerial acumen by undertaking the Trinity MBA.
Nurturing entrepreneurship is at the heart of The Trinity MBA programme where an entrepreneurial focus is woven through every module. The Scaling and Social Entrepreneurship projects allow students the opportunity to help fast-moving NGOs and SMEs scale their international growth and solve strategic issues when financial resources are constrained. Trinity College Dublin has a tradition of Innovation with Trinity graduates being ranked by venture capital organisation Pitchbook as the most entrepreneurial in Europe for the past four years. Trinity Business School’s strategy is to galvanise and build on this strength in all its activities. The partnership of the Liffey Trust and The Trinity MBA is therefore a natural fit.
University College Dublin
The Liffey Trust is also delighted to have entered a partnership with University College Dublin in 2019. Students enrolled at UCD for a four-year course of their choice can obtain the Entrepreneurial scholarship valued at up to €12,000 (€3,000 per year for the duration of their course.) 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 University College Dublin.
Séamus McDermott is a Chartered Engineer with a degree in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from UCD, and was recently awarded the honorary degree of “Doctor of Engineering”. He also lectured on management and engineering in Ireland and overseas.
National University of Ireland, Galway
The Liffey Trust proudly entered a partnership with the National University of Ireland, Galway in 2022. Through the support of The Liffey Trust in honour of the incredible legacy of Galway native, Dr. Séamus McDermott’s hard work and dedication to supporting job creation, The Dr. Séamus Mc Dermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship will run for an initial 10-year period. First-year undergraduate students at NUI Galway can apply for a scholarship valued at up to €9,000 for the duration of their studies at the University. The scholarship will help to support students in NUI Galway’s newly launched student innovation and entrepreneurship hub, IdeasLab.
IdeasLab activates and cultivates a community of curious and innovative minds across the NUI Galway Campus. IdeasLab nurtures and supports students to develop skills to explore new possibilities with real-world impact. They offer educational programming and events, enterprise-specific activities and funding support to inspire and develop creative and innovative confidence within their student and enterprise communities.
Dublin City University
The Liffey Trust is delighted to announce a new donation agreement with Dublin City University. The Dr. Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship at DCU will be awarded annually from 2022 to 2032 to promote the concepts of job creation, entrepreneurial development, and education for life in the minds of undergraduate student entrepreneurs.
Through the support of The Liffey Trust in honour of the incredible legacy of Dr. S McDermott’s hard work and dedication, in total, ten first-year students will receive this scholarship, worth up to €9,000 throughout the duration of their studies.
Dr. Séamus McDermott and Aidan Corless, Chairperson of The Liffey Trust, announced the new scholarship during a recent visit to DCU’s Glasnevin campus. As part of the visit, Dr. McDermott spoke to first-year students enrolled in DCU’s award-winning Learning Innovation for Enterprise (LIFE) module, who will be eligible to apply for the scholarship this year.
We look forward to partnering with more fantastic colleges and bright minds in the future!