THIS week's Aisling Bursary presentation in the magnificently reimagined St Mary's University College was West Belfast at its very best.

In this the 25th anniversary year of the initiative, jointly midwifed in 2000 by this newspaper and the West Belfast Partnership Board, 230 students picked up college stipends from 130 businesses and organisations.

Unique in Ireland, the ceremony is built on the belief that those who do well in business shouldn't pull the ladder up after them but instead ensure they think of the younger generation. 

It was a politically star-studded event with First Minister Michelle O'Neill, Economy Minister Conor Murphy and Junior Minister Aisling Reilly in attendance. The Economy Minister earned extra points on his exam card for bringing £35,000 in bursary grants with him – a striking endorsement of the bursary scheme previously absent from the Department with responsibility for third-level education.

But the best contributions of the night were soaring speeches by former Aisling Bursary recipients Terry Quinn, a former doorman turned qualified city planner, and Alison McCrudden, founder of Brassneck Youth Theatre.

Returning to education in his thirties — he quit school before his A-Levels – Terry said he was buoyed by business leaders he met at his presentation event. "What I found were people from the same socio-economic background as myself who had faced the same challenges and barriers growing up but were now supporting others to enter third level education. It was a turning point in my life."

Back in 1988, Alison, then a teenager, was told by her careers teacher to ditch her dream of becoming an actor. Suitably chastened, she did so and spent 12 years in "admin jobs slowly crushing my artistic soul".

"In the Year 2000 as we were heading into the third year of our journey to peace, the air still filled with expectation and promise, I handed in my resignation and applied for a HND in Performing Arts," she recalled.

"With nobody to financially support me, it was a massive move but at the same time, the stars aligned and the Aisling Bursaries were launched. I applied and was successful. The £1,000 assistance was amazing but the act of giving was much more important. The Aisling Bursary said to me, 'We believe in you', and it was with that incentive and community support that I jumped into further and higher education – and never looked back."

Now Joint Head of Drama and Literature at the Arts Council, Alison said today's recipients should take similar inspiration from their bursaries. "This is our community saying to you, 'We believe in you, we support you, we think you're class, here's your gift, now off you go and do brilliant things.'"

All of which encapsulates, brilliantly and pithily, what the Aisling Bursaries are about. Comhghairdeas then to the 2024 recipients and a big thanks to the donors - among them BioPax, Clonard Credit Union, Howard Hastings and Kolormaster. Others – not least the multinationals of the West like Huhtamaki, Montupet and Spirit Aerostyems – might think of following their lead. Though by 2025, to keep track with inflation (£1,000 in 2000 would be worth £1,800 today), let's bump the bursary quantum up a bit. 

In the meantime, we should reflect proudly on what St Mary's Principal Peter Finn branded a night of "investment". "And," he added, "evidence shows that investment in education, training and skills development pays dividends for years and even for generations."

We couldn't have put it better ourselves.