Munster Technological University (MTU) has selected Ellie McCarthy from Skibbereen as the official Marketing and International Business Intern of the Year 2025.

Ellie completed her internship with Red Bev Brands and impressed the judges with her contribution to trade marketing activities, events, content creation and business insights during her placement.

Five finalists presented their placement experiences to the judging panel, including Ella O’Callaghan Griffin at NetApp, Ellie McGuinness at NetApp, Mark Linehan at Enterprise Mobility, and Eoin Nash at Eli Lilly.

The top prize was awarded last week as all five returned to MTU to complete their final year of studies.

Brendan Butler of Canto Ireland, who sponsored the award and was on the judging panel, said: ‘It was an incredibly close competition. The standard was so high that we would genuinely have hired any one of these finalists. Their performance speaks volumes about the quality of MTU’s placement programme and the students’ professionalism.’

Dr Katie Power, head of department of Marketing and International Business at MTU, accepted the award on Ellie’s behalf.

She said: ‘Every student represented themselves, and MTU, with great distinction. Their confidence, skill, and insight tell us that the future of marketing is in good hands.’