The Liffey Trust has announced their partnership with Trinity Business School to fund scholarships for entrepreneurs who are studying through Trinity’s Masters of Business Administration (MBA) program.
The Seamus McDermott Scholarship for Entrepreneurship will provide €10,000 towards the MBA program and will be introduced this September. The scholarship fund will expand to four scholarships each year over the next 10 years which will result in funding of €340,000.
The scholarship honours the director of the Trust, Seamus McDermott, who stated in a press release: “Our new partnership with the top university of Ireland and with the academic staff of one of the finest business schools in the world will, we believe, have far reaching and long-term benefits for Irish society as a whole.”
The scholarship for the upcoming academic year has been awarded to John Drumm, founder of Glencar Healthcare, which specialises in funding Irish healthcare infrastructure, In a press statement, Drumm said: “I am delighted to accept the Seamus McDermott scholarship and am looking forward to starting the upcoming MBA programme. Seamus is a fantastic example to all business people and I greatly appreciate his generosity in funding this scholarship.”
Andrew Burke, Dean of Trinity Business School, also commented on the importance of creating a supportive environment for entrepreneurs in College: “People always assume that business start-up is the hardest part of entrepreneurship whereas research has shown that it is the later challenges of survival, growth and professionalization that pose the greatest challenges for new ventures. An MBA is very much more focused on providing solutions for these latter developmental requirements for new businesses so this scholarship is well placed to support ambitious entrepreneurs.”
The Liffey Trust is one of Europe’s oldest incubators and was founded in 1984 to help both potential entrepreneurs and community groups. To date, they have aided the development of over 200 businesses and have provided a range of services including guidance, consultancy and providing working space.