Shell E&P Ireland has initiated a third-level scholarship scheme in four schools in the Erris area of Co Mayo.
The programme is designed to enlist community support for the controversial Corrib gas project, and the company says it is in response to one of the recommendations made last year by Government mediator Peter Cassells.
Ten scholarships worth €4,000 a year will be awarded each year between now and 2009, the company says. They will be granted on a "competitive basis" to students with ambitions to study engineering, science, business or finance.
Participating schools are Our Lady's and St Brendan's secondary schools, Belmullet, Coláiste Chomain, Rossport, and St Patrick's, Lacken Cross. The successful applicants will be chosen by an "independent selection panel, made up of former teachers and local citizens", the company says.
