The All Ireland Scholarships Scheme for students in Northern Ireland is now open for applications.
The annual scholarships, funded by businessman JP McManus, are now in their tenth year in Northern Ireland and provide financial assistance to top performing students from low income households who intend to take up full-time undergraduate courses in the coming Autumn.
The value of each scholarship is £5,500 per annum for the duration of their undergraduate degree programme.
Recognising the opportunities afforded by the scholarships, Permanent Secretary of the Department for the Economy Noel Lavery said: “I would like to thank JP McManus for his continued generosity in providing these scholarships which help ease the financial concerns of the students. These scholarships recognise the importance of higher education in changing lives and aim to ensure that high-performing students are able to avail of the opportunity and continue their education. I am delighted to note that, to date, 250 students from Northern Ireland have been awarded a scholarship.”
The closing date for receipt of application forms is June 28.
Meanwhile, Belfast financial services company HNH is investing over £1.3m to create 14 new jobs to help it capitalise on opportunities in the global financial advisory market. The firm currently offer corporate finance, business restructuring, forensic accounting, recruitment and human capital advisory services.
It is now adding a transactions services division and a mergers and acquisition tax team, as well as further growing its existing forensics practice as part of the investment, which is supported by Invest Northern Ireland.
Commenting on the expansion, HNH Director Wayne Horwood said: “Global economic growth has created opportunities in the financial advisory market and we are keen to act quickly to take advantage of this. In particular, we are aiming to increase the number of clients we have in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland and so, as well as substantially expanding our workforce, we’ll be carrying out a range of promotional and marketing activity.”
The 14 new jobs include a number of managerial and director level posts. George McKinney, Invest NI’s Director of Technology & Services, commented: “These new jobs will offer an attractive range of employment opportunities for graduates and experienced professionals and will generate £639,000 annually in additional salaries for the Northern Ireland economy.”
View available positions at HNH here.