Two Kilkenny students awarded Naughton Foundation Scholarship worth €25,000

Two Kilkenny students have been awarded a Naughton Foundation Scholarship worth €25,000 at a ceremony in Trinity Business School, Trinity College Dublin. 

Seán Moloney and Ruairí Phelan were presented with the awards by founding patrons of the Naughton Foundation, Dr Martin Naughton, and his wife Carmel. They were joined by Minister Jack Chambers to present winning students with their awards and cheques. 

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. 

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The County Kilkenny winners, Seán Moloney, a former student of St Kieran’s College, has accepted a place at Trinity College Dublin studying Management Science and Information Systems Studies, and Ruairí Phelan, also a former student of St Kieran’s College, has accepted a place at University College Dublin studying Engineering.

Since its establishment in 2008, the Foundation has presented over €8 million in scholarships to over 450 young people in publicly funded institutions across the island of Ireland. The scheme started in three counties and has continued to expand annually to become a nationwide scheme in 2016. There is one guaranteed scholarship (€25,000) 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. 

Seán and Ruairí join 36 other exceptional Irish students who were awarded third level scholarships towards their studies in the areas of engineering, science, technology, and maths. The prize winners’ former secondary school, St Kieran’s College, was awarded a prize of €1,000 per student towards their school’s science facilities, for their support of their winning students. 

“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," said Dr Martin Naughton.

"Today we are delighted to welcome a new cohort of wonderful young people to join this group and to support and encourage them. When we meet these young engineers, researchers, and mathematicians, I am very happy knowing that we have invested in Ireland’s wealth creators and leaders of the future."