Mayo student awarded €24,000 Naughton Foundation Scholarship

Mayo Student Eoghan Durkan was awarded a Naughton Foundation Scholarship worth €24,000 at a ceremony in the Trinity Business School in Dublin at the weekend. 

Mr Durkan is a former student of St Muredach’s College, Ballina, and has accepted a place studying science at University College Dublin.

The award was presented by founding patrons of the Naughton Foundation, Dr Martin Naughton, and his wife Carmel, who were joined by Taoiseach Simon Harris to present winning students with their awards and cheques. 

Supporting academic and innovative excellence in Irish students, the 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. 

Mr Durkan joined 37 exceptional Irish students who were awarded third level scholarships towards their studies in the areas of engineering, science, technology, and maths. 

The prize winner’s former secondary school, St Muredach’s College, Mayo was awarded a prize of €1,000 towards their school’s science facilities, for their support of their winning student. 

Speaking about the growth and development of the programme over the past seventeen years, Dr Martin commented: “Both Carmel and I are delighted by the growth of this program and the incredible community of alumni who are doing extraordinary work in education, research and industry at home and abroad. 

“Today 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. 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,” he concluded.