Many Transition Year students run their mini-companies with the help of an organisation called Junior Achievement. More than 7,000 students from all over Ireland took part in Junior Achievement's Company Programme this year.

Each programme is led by a business volunteer from a local supporting company who gives advice and expertise to the young entrepreneurs involved.

The RDS Student Innovation Awards is a national competition open to all students participating in Junior Achievement's Company Programme. The competition is run at regional level and the winners in each region will go forward to this year's national final in the RDS, Dublin, on March 29th and 30th. Independent judges assess the students' efforts.

"This year we have had some of the most interesting and innovative companies enter the competition," says marketing and communications director Alva O'Sullivan. "The standard gets higher and higher each year. It is very obvious that the students, the business volunteers and the teachers put in a huge amount of time and commitment before they even get to the regional final stage."

For further information, contact aosullivan@juniorachievement.ie