AIB and TU Dublin Self-Employment for Persons with Disabilities Programme 2025
An exciting new All-Island course for persons with disabilities who wish to start their own business will begin on September 17th and will take place ONLINE each Wednesday from 11.00 - 13.00 for 12 weeks. AIB is kindly supporting this course, so it is free for all successful applicants. The deadline for applications is July 31st 2025. This ONLINE course is open to any person with a disability who lives on the island of Ireland, so applications are encouraged from both Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland.
TU Dublin will host and deliver the course through its Continuing Professional Development programme. It is open to anyone who self-identifies as having a disability and wishes to start their own business. However, the course is not suitable for someone who has already started their own business or simply wants to learn about entrepreneurship. This initiative was co-founded and is proudly supported by the Open Doors Initiative.
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Our Partner Organisations include:
Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland
The course requires participants to have a business idea they wish to evaluate as a sustainable enterprise. During the course, participants will cover the following topics:
- Distinctive challenges facing people with disabilities becoming self-employed
- Idea evaluation
- Customer segmentation
- Customer relationships and channels
- Clarifying the Value Proposition
- Balancing business and personal well-being
- Key business activities
- Key resources and partners
- Developing financial projections
- Test marketing your idea
- Understanding legal matters
- Presenting your business plan
The module will include a range of Guest Speakers (including role models and subject experts from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland) whose experience and expertise are relevant to the target audience. In addition, using the online tool SimVenture Validate will enable participants to develop their ideas weekly. Plus, by adopting Universal Design for Learning principles, a customised experiential learning approach will allow each participant to maximise their learning from the course.
According to Professor Thomas Cooney, Director of the course:
This course is about breaking down barriers and ensuring that everyone, regardless of ability, has access to the skills and support needed to become successful entrepreneurs. The success stories we’ve witnessed so far are proof that innovation and determination know no limits
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The course will consist of 12 lectures followed by submitting a Business Plan. The lectures will be recorded and made available for viewing at any time, plus a range of useful content resources will be provided online for review when suitable for the course participant.
The course is offered at NFQ Level 6 of the Irish National Framework of Qualifications (NFQ), and successful participants will be awarded 5 ECTS credits. Participants will be students of TU Dublin and will therefore be eligible to access any of TU Dublin’s resources (e.g. library, disability support services). Additionally, each participant will be allocated a business mentor who will support them in developing their business idea.
Potential participants are initially required to submit an application form that includes a 500-word summary; the summary of their business idea can be typed into the form or else created via video or audio file. The summary should address the following questions:
- Are you starting the business on your own or with co-founders?
- What is the product/service?
- What problem is your product/service solving?
- Who will buy it?
- Why is your product/service better than what is already available?
Following a review of the applications, a shortlist will be created, and potential course participants will be interviewed by telephone to discuss their business ideas in greater detail and to eliminate anyone considered ineligible for the course. There are 20 places available on the course, and the selection will be made based on the information presented during these two stages of the application process. Please apply using this Application Form.
**Applications are open until July 31st 2025 Any queries relating to the course should be emailed to thomas.cooney@tudublin.ie.