Limerick students win scholarship worth €24,000

TWO Limerick students have won scholarships worth up to €24,000.

Shane Rafferty, who attended Ardscoil Ris on the city's northside, and former Crescent College Comprehensive student Jonathan Byrne were the lucky recipients from Limerick.

They joined 37 other students in being honoured with a Naughton Foundation Scholarship at a ceremony at the Trinity Business School in Dublin.

Above: Crescent School Comprehensive representative Tommy Byrne, Martin and Carmel Naughton, winning scholar Jonathan Byrne, and Taoiseach Simon Harris

Shane is set to study engineering in University of Galway, while Jonathan will read maths in University of Limerick.

BREAKING: Limerick man pleads guilty to dangerous driving causing death of UL student Joe Drennan

Naughton Scholarships are a scheme of scholarships to promote the study of engineering, science and technology at third level by students in Ireland.

Since they were established in 2008, bursaries worth more than €6m 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.

The Limerick prize winner’s former secondary schools were awarded a prize of €1,000 towards their school’s science facilities, for their support of their winning student.

Scholarship founder Dr Martin Naughton commented: "Both Carmel [his wife] and I are delighted by the growth of this programme 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."