• Over 3,500 students from 92 primary schools to receive a copy of Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley – a vibrant graphic novel from a neurodivergent perspective 

The second year of Enterprise Holdings Foundation ROAD Forward initiative, in partnership with Children’s Book’s Ireland, was officially launched this week at St. Brigid’s Girls National School, Glasnevin, Dublin. 

The ROAD (Respect, Opportunity, Achievement, Diversity) Forward programme is a €47 million global initiative funded by the Enterprise Holdings Foundation that aims to address the widening opportunity gaps across three key focus areas – early childhood development, your health and wellness, and career and college preparation.  In Ireland, the ROAD Forward focus has been on childhood literacy in schools.  

More than 3,500 students from 92 schools will receive their own copy of Frankie’s World by Aoife Dooley, a former student of St. Brigid’s Girls National School, Glasnevin. Told with humour, heart and fun illustrations, Frankie’s World follows its protagonist as she navigates school, friendship, and her experience with autism.

The Enterprise Holdings Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Enterprise Holdings, Inc., which, through its integrated global network of independent regional subsidiaries and franchises, operates the Enterprise Rent-A-Car, National Car Rental and Alamo brands.

Speaking about the launch, Brendan Grieve, Managing Director of Enterprise Rent-A-Car Ireland said:

“We are delighted to bring the ROAD Forward initiative back for another year, after witnessing first-hand the excitement and enthusiasm from the school children last year. We are further building on the success of the initiative, almost doubling the number of books we will distribute this year and giving back to as many communities across Ireland as we possibly can.” 

“ROAD Forward represents respect, opportunity, achievement, and diversity; principles we place at the centre of everything we do at Enterprise and which I hope pupils in schools around the country will take away from the incredible insight in this book. I am grateful to Children’s Books Ireland for supporting us with this exciting project, and to the many Enterprise employees across Ireland, who’ll be at the forefront of this campaign, delivering the books to children in schools nationwide.”  

Elaina Ryan, CEO of Children’s Books Ireland said:

“We’re delighted to be entering our second year of partnership with Enterprise, following a hugely successful project in 2022. This is an amazing initiative, benefiting 3,500 students at a key point in their reading journeys, and Frankie’s World is the perfect title to capture their interest. Thanks to Enterprise’s support, we can continue to provide these lucky students with excellent stories from diverse perspectives and support wonderful Irish creators like Aoife in the process!”

In 2022, the programme’s partnership with Children’s Books Ireland saw the delivery of 1,900 copies of Why the Moon Travels by Oein DeBhairduin to pupils in 64 schools across Ireland.