Offaly student awarded prestigious Naughton Scholarship
A former student of the Sacred Heart Secondary School in Tullamore was one of 37 exceptional students from around the country to be awarded a prestigious Naughton Foundation Scholarship worth €24,000 at a special ceremony in Dublin over the weekend.
Anna Curry, who was the county Offaly winner, will use her scholarship to fund her studies in University College Dublin, where she has accepted a place to study Computer Science.
The Sacred Heart School was awarded a prize of €1,000 towards their school’s science facilities, for their support of Anna Curry during her time as a student at the Tullamore educational facility.
The awards ceremony, which took place in the Trinity Business School in Dublin on Saturday last, October 12, was attended by An Taoiseach Simon Harris, and students were presented with their scholarships by founding patrons of the Naughton Foundation, Dr. Martin Naughton and his wife, Carmel.
Supporting academic and innovative excellence in Irish students, the Naughton Foundation Scholarship Awards are an investment in the future of Ireland's reputation as a country with outstanding graduates promoting the study of engineering, science, and technology at third level.
Since its establishment in 2008, Naughton Scholarships worth over €6 million have been awarded to more than 450 outstanding students. The scheme started in three counties and has continued to expand annually to become a nationwide scheme in 2016.
There is one guaranteed scholarship (€24,000) for each participating county, with some counties awarded more than one scholarship and each scholarship is worth €6,000 for each year of a student’s three- or four-year undergraduate degree.
Anna Curry joined 37 exceptional Irish students who were awarded third level scholarships towards their studies in the areas of engineering, science, technology, and maths.
Speaking about the growth and development of the programme over the past seventeen years, Dr. Martin Naughton spoke of the "extraordinary work" being done in the fields of education, research and industry, both at home and abroad, by the "incredible community of alumni" from the Naughton Foundation Scholarship programme, and said that both himself and his wife, Carmel, are delighted at the success of the initiative.
"We are delighted to welcome a new cohort of wonderful young people to join this group and to support and encourage them in a small way with their undergraduate studies in Ireland" he said "and we firmly believe that these bright and engaging students who are passionate about their studies in the STEM areas will be Ireland’s leaders and wealth creators of the future.”