St Mary’s senior Business and Finance students had a great opportunity to experience a business event on Wednesday 4th December when the school was the venue for a business conference featuring a number of successful past pupils.
The event was hosted by Seamus O’Prey from the Ortus group, who is one of Ireland’s foremost social entrepreneurs. Guest speakers from the business community spoke about their life in St Mary’s, their career paths and their current business experiences.
Emmett McCorry, who works with Coca Cola Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia in procurement, spoke about his role within the global brands supply chain. He talked about the organisation’s product range and the challenges faced by all global companies, including environmental impact. Emmett had been an outstanding footballer while at the school and played on the 1986 Mac Rory Cup winning team as a year 11, making him one of the youngest players ever to win a Mac Rory medal on the field.
Charles Caldwell, Domino Pizza, added to the discussion with a colourful step by step guide on his many and varied careers. Charles explained how he ventured into the world of franchising after selling off a successful nursing home business. Wearing the full Domino attire Charles explained how his Irish franchises are some of the most successful globally and that his success has been due to hard work and a bit of luck.
The third presentation was made by Kevin Gamble, Director of Féile an Phobaíl and his stories from Féile 2019 were one of the highlights of the event. Kevin explained his strong St Mary’s connections and spoke to the pupils about the importance of maintaining friendships and networking in business, especially as many of the students will soon be leaving school and embarking on new career paths. Kevin also showed some powerful images of the 2019 event.
Paul Hamill, who has recently retired from the Kainos group, one of Ireland’s leading technological firms, joined the panel for the question and answer section. Paul also had sound words of advice for his young audience.
Principal Siobhan Kelly believes the key message for the students from the presenters was the need to work hard and get the most out of your education in St. Mary’s. The common driver for all of the past pupils speaking today was that St. Mary’s had provided them with a sound educational platform and the skills to flourish in the business world.
We were delighted that our past pupils were able to join us today. This was a superb opportunity for our students. In St. Mary’s we have excellent Alumni links. Our past pupils are very generous with their time and keen to give back to the school. Hopefully the business and finance talk will be the catalyst for many more faculty panels. Head boy, Tiernan O’Flaherty commented that, “Today I saw at first hand the difference St. Mary’s can make to men, years after they have walked down our school lane for the last time. I have learnt a lot today and made some valuable contacts.
Principal Kelly added
”Thank you to all of our past pupils and Alumni for the work they do to motivate our current students.”
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