St Fanahan's College business students with teacher Ms Moher pictured winning Best Newcomer Award at the AIB Build a Bank competition. From left, Treasa Moher, Stella Walsh, Chloe Connolly, Lucille Walsh, Alan Macken, Jack O'Brien, Matt Fitzsimmons and Maureen O'Brien.

Business students from St Fanahan’s College, Mitchelstown were voted Best Newcomers at the AIB Build a Bank Competition recently, an initiative that gives students the opportunity to create a business plan, brand their bank and assign key roles such as Chief Financial Officer to the team members.

Ms Moher’s fifth year team, made up of six students – Alan Macken, Lucille and Stella Walsh, Jack O’Brien, Chloe Connolly and Matt Fitzimmons, reached out to the community to highlight banking services available both online and in branch. They experienced interactive and interesting afternoons when they visited students in the Bunscoil and the residents of Corpus Christi, Mitchelstown.

The students also had the full support of the local AIB education officer Maureen O’Brien, throughout the process. The competition proved to be a valuable learning curve for those involved as they were faced with budgeting constraints, competition from another internal school bank and the arduous task of chasing paperwork!

When the winners were announced at the Munster finals in the Clayton Hotel Cork, the students hard work paid off when they were announced as this year’s ‘Best Newcomers’.

Ms Moher was delighted with the effort and hard work of her students and said that winning the Best Newcomer Award was a great achievement. She said St Fanahan’s College were looking forward to competing again in next year’s competition.