Portlaoise CBS bale spike company lifts top prize
Senior winners Harry Ramsbottom and Alex Delaney (DRD Balespikes) from St Mary's CBS, Portlaoise with Dominic Reddin, LEO Laois; Angela McEvoy, Director of Services, Laois Co Council; teachers Emma Lynch and Deirdre Moore and Linda Meredith, LEO Laois at the county final of the Student Enterprise awards. Photo: Alf Harvey
A COMPANY that produces bale spikes lifted the senior title in the county final of the Student Enterprise Awards.
Teenagers James Doody, Harry Ramsbottom and Alex Delaney from St Mary’s CBS, Portlaoise won the coveted senior award with DRD Balespikes, an impressive enterprise that makes customised bale spikes for the farming sector.
The trio was presented with the award on 10 March at the event in Midlands Park Hotel, Portlaoise, where the cream of student innovation and creativity was on display.
There was double delight for Portlaoise CBS, as fellow students Paddy Lynch and Tom McDonald won the junior category with their company ‘I-CAN’.
Meanwhile, Scoil Chríost Rí took the intermediate title with ‘Solas Seunóga’, run by Abbie Holmes and Emma White.
All three companies from two Portlaoise schools will go on to represent Laois in the national 2026 Student Enterprise Programme finals on 7 May.
The county programme is organised by Local Enterprise Office (LEO) Laois and more than 750 students from nine schools took part this year.
Other notable winners included Daragh Lalor, Adam Hyland, Barry Conroy and Thomas Miller from ‘Hold My Boots’ at St Mary’s CBS, who took second place, while Kevin McCann, Ronan Cuddy, Cullen Hyland and Shane Rigney of Clonaslee College came third with ‘KRCS Engineering’.
Special Merit Awards in the county final went to: Richelle Alexander, Jodie Komolafe and Sibusiso Mchemwa, ‘Botharín’, Scoil Chríost Rí; Farrah Flanagan, Allie Lowry and Darragh Kelly, ‘Acaiology’, Mountrath CS; Ella Stapleton, Mairéad Ryan and Lauren Campion, ‘Cub Again’, St Fergal’s College, Rathdowney; Eva Howson, ‘Link & Loop’, Scoil Chríost Rí; Cara Phelan, Avril Phelan and Katie Wallace, ‘Locker Goodies’, Mountrath CS; Clodagh Delaney, ‘Frame & Fame’, Dunamase College; Ava Scully and Bethany Dollard, ‘Holly & Hooks’, Mountmellick CS.
Special guests at the event included Kelly Ging, owner of Kelly Lou Cakes café and boutique bakery, Laois Co Council chief executive Michael Rainey and Cathaoirleach Cllr Barry Walsh.
Congratulating all students, Linda Meredith of LEO Laois said: “Supporting entrepreneurship at a young age helps develop innovation, resilience and ambition in our communities. The Student Enterprise Programme has been a cornerstone of this effort and we are delighted to see it continue to thrive here in Laois.
“Taking part in the programme requires commitment, teamwork and resilience and every student who participated should be extremely proud of their achievements. I extend our congratulations to the winners and wish them the very best of luck on 7 May.”
The local winners will compete against hundreds of other student entrepreneurs from all over Ireland at the national finals, which will be held in the Mullingar Park Hotel.
Over 30,000 students from nearly 500 secondary schools nationwide took part in 2025/2026 programme, which helps students to create, design and market their own businesses. The Laois schools were Clonaslee College, Dunamase College, Heywood CS, Mountmellick CS, Mountrath CS, Portlaoise College, Scoil Chríost Rí, St Fergal’s College and St Mary’s CBS.
