To honour the tremendous contribution of our founder and Galway native, Dr. Séamus McDermott, to entrepreneurship in Ireland, The Liffey Trust is delighted to announce a new donation agreement with the National University of Ireland, Galway.
The Dr. Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship at NUI Galway has been established with the primary purpose to promote the concepts of job creation, entrepreneurial development, and education for life, in the minds of undergraduate students commencing their studies in NUI Galway. The scholarship will help to support students in NUI Galway’s newly launched student innovation and entrepreneurship hub, IdeasLab.
Through the support of The Liffey Trust in honour of the incredible legacy of Dr. S McDermott’s hard work and dedication to supporting job creation, the 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.
President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, said:
“We welcome our new partnership with the Liffey Trust. A key strength of NUI Galway is our partnership with business, industry, government and civic society to nurture graduates that are civic, innovative and entrepreneurial. The scholarship will sow the seeds to further enhance and support our vision for innovation, excellence and entrepreneurship in the region.”
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.
This is now the third scholarship The Liffey Trust has made available to undergraduate students. The Liffey Trust provides yearly scholarships to students from University College Dublin, Trinity College Dublin, and now, as of this year, the National University of Ireland, Galway.
We are extremely excited about our partnership with NUI Galway for the years ahead. The inaugural students will be selected in March 2022.
Professor Michelle Millar, Dean of Students in NUI Galway, said:
“We are delighted to broaden our scholarship portfolio to include the Séamus McDermott Entrepreneurial Scholarship. Our campus is filled with creative and innovative minds that this scholarship can make a real difference to.”
