Good Afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen
My name is Sarah McKegney and I am from Belfast in Northern Ireland. I am a first year student of Accounting at Queen’s University. I am delighted and proud to be speaking today at the National Press Club.
I am privileged to be a member of the 2008 team of the Washington Ireland Program. I know I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say that this first week has been amazing and we are looking forward to making the most of all the opportunities still to come.
I have lived in Northern Ireland my whole life and I am fortunate to come from a very entrepreneurial family. I have always been taught that to be lucky is to work hard to create your own luck and with this in mind, I have always felt a great desire to strive towards one day being able to work for myself.
Last month, I was very privileged to have been asked to make the opening speech at the US: NI Investment Conference held in Belfast. This conference aimed at attracting American investment to Northern Ireland and showcased the huge entrepreneurial talent and activity that we have to offer. Northern Ireland is a wonderful place to live and work and with one of the youngest populations in Europe, for young people in particular, it is a place of great optimism and opportunity.
My experiences with Young Enterprise Northern Ireland have inspired me to continue to strive towards working for myself and I believe that such practical experience is very valuable and necessary for all young people. Young Enterprise Northern Ireland is an organisation aimed at increasing the employability skills of young people but also introducing them and inspiring them to work for themselves based on the principle of “learning by doing”. I personally have had experience of this organisation, through competing in their company programme. In keeping with the entrepreneurial spirit promoted by the Young Enterprise we established an entrepreneurial culture within our secondary school. We set up and ran a company for a year and I was delighted to win the leadership award at the national finals in London. Also, in the last few months I have had the opportunity to work with the organisation to deliver enterprise programmes to primary school children as part of my service project for the Washington Ireland Program. Enterprise and innovation are widely encouraged throughout the Northern Ireland curriculum.
In America, there is a great sense that anything is possible and I believe that we can all learn from this ‘yes we can’ attitude. The only thing that ever holds us back is that which we allow to hold us back ourselves. This summer I hope to claim for myself, this American enthusiasm and sense of self-belief so that I can make my contribution to the increasing feeling in Northern Ireland that we too can do things for ourselves. The Washington Ireland Program gives us each the opportunity to do things for ourselves and allows us to discover the reality that anything is possible and that any vision can be realised if we are willing to work for it.
Using the skills I gain in Washington this summer, I hope to be able to come home and make my contribution to Northern Ireland’s prosperity. As a young person from Northern Ireland I am optimistic about my future there and I am enthusiastic and ready to take up the challenge of going to work in an increasingly innovative culture.
Steve Jobs, the American entrepreneur and co-founder of Apple said, “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”. An entrepreneur is essentially a visionary, someone who is willing to risk trying something new to make a difference. Using the practical experience we each gain from the leadership curriculum and our individual internships this summer, we too can look forward to making a difference and distinguishing ourselves as leaders.
