Young Innovators Descend On Shannon For Dragons Pitch

Hundreds of young innovators from across Ireland are pitching their business plans to the dragons at Shannon Airport today.

The ITLG Young Innovators event is going on throughout the day and this year the Transition Year students are being encouraged to focus on global issues like homelessness, climate change and sustainable development.

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Today is the opportunity of a lifetime for school kids across the country, who get to pitch their ideas to business moguls Gavin Duffy, Channelle McCoy, Eleanor McEvoy and Barry O’Sullivan.

Hundreds of groups from right around the country are here today, having spent months working on their projects.

Barry O’Sullivan outlines what he’s looking for.

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Limerick Institute of Technology is a partner in the event and its president Vincent Cunnane says we can never underestimate the youth of today.

One of those whose project has already grown legs is Emma Dineen, who’s a pupil at Laurel Hill Coláiste in Limerick City.

Emma’s business is called The Barkery and she makes nutritionally healthy snacks for dogs, after her aunt’s rescue dog George got sick from the regular shop-bought snacks.

Already, her treats are being stocked in pet stores in Limerick and Clare, thanks to support from Shannon Group.

Emma says it’s something that she wants to see grow legs from here.

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The winning students will be flown over to San Francisco to intern in Silicon Valley in the hope of pushing their projects forward.

John Hartnett is founder and CEO of SVG Partners there and says this is the chance of a lifetime for the lucky winners.