Róisín Sweeney, from Naas, had plenty on her plate in 2025. The former Motorsport Ireland Tillotson T4 Champion had graduated to car racing in 2024, in a Global GT Light. Having shown good pace, she was beset by a myriad of mechanical issues, meaning she got very little seat time.
In 2025, she completed her Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Aerospace Engineering in Carlow after four years of study. Róisín began studying aerospace engineering in 2021, receiving an academic scholarship on entry into first year of the course, courtesy of her motorsport successes.
Róisín established herself as the fastest driver of the SETU karting club early on in her time SETU (South East Technological University). She was selected for the A team on first trials and went on to compete in the Student Sport Ireland Karting Championships throughout the four years of her degree.
“Karting has been a part of my life since my early teens. I discovered the sport while on holiday with my family; I was hooked right away. Karting is very important to me and brings back very fond memories,” Roisin explained.
In her second year, Róisín achieved runner up in the Karting Driver championship, in conjunction with becoming the first female Motorsport Ireland T4 Senior National Karting champion. In 2023, Róisín became the first female to win a Student Sport Ireland individual student karting championship, while also leading the SETU A team to third place in the team’s championship.
Róisín was awarded a sports scholarship for karting, from 2022 to 2024. The SETU Sports Scholarship Programme is designed to assist high-performance athletes in their overall development. The programme supports high-calibre athletes to reach their maximum potential both in their sport and in their academic careers.
For four years running, Róisín achieved the SETU Student Recognition Award in acknowledgement of her commitment to her studies.
“Even with all I was working towards in sport, I wanted to keep up my grades and learn as much as possible within my degree in aerospace engineering, an area that I became very passionate about. I have always found the world of aviation extremely interesting, and the course gave me great exposure and insight into the aviation industry. Being able to physically work on aircraft was a very important experience, and I found that a lot of the topics I studied through the year related to my motorsport interests too. The course has left me well prepared for pursuing my future career in the aviation industry,” Róisín explained. “The overall feeling of recognition and support from the scholarship made me feel even more motivated to commit into my university career, both academically and through clubs and societies.” 
Now graduating with a first-class honours’ degree in Aerospace Engineering. Róisín has already begun the next chapter, having gained a graduate position at Milestone Aviation, a helicopter leasing company.
Even though she was preparing for her final exams, Róisín was back on track in 2025. With her Global almost fully rebuilt by her father Dan, also an engineer, and new backing from Nordic Spirit, she raced at Kirkistown, Mondello Park and Knockhill in Scotland, taking her first car podium finishes and just missing out on third in the championship when the last round was cancelled. With the car finally reliable, she was able to get a lot more seat time and also began to fine tune the chassis settings, learning all the time. Paul Heavey of Leastone Racing had helped Róisín and Dan at Mondello and offered to check the car over and set it up. This helped hugely and also led to Paul offering her a test in his Leastone 1000 single seater at Mondello Park. Subsequent to this, she was invited to race the car in the BOSS Ireland class in July at Mondello Park.
As well as Nordic Spirit, Róisín is supported by VEI Global , Cradlepoint , Clark Recruitment , Jones Engineering , Global Rail , GPX Rail and LMC Group. Her 2026 plans are currently being finalised and will be announced shortly.
Header Image: Jimmy Graham
Leastone Image: Leastone Racing