Made from durable, antifungal polyurethane and rubber, the shoe slips securely over hooves, eliminating the need for glue or nails. It thereby prevents the primary causes of lameness.

Rebecca Fitzgerald, one of the three students involved in creating Moo Shoe alongside Catherine O’Connell and Sharon Coco, said that when researching and developing their idea, they were "amazed" to discover that little exists on the market to prevent lameness.

"The average cost of lameness per cow in Ireland is a staggering €283," Rebecca said, "whereas the Moo Shoe ensures infection-free and injury-free hooves for a minimal cost per cow."

Other finalists to present concepts in the final of the competition were Moodley Manor, which manufactures dairy-free and animal-free foods, from NUI Maynooth, The Summit Shaker, a stainless steel protein shaker, from DCU, Hear Here Ltd., assistive technology devices for the deaf and hard of hearing communities, from DIT, GreenCar - a peer-to-peer car sharing company, from TCD, and an integrated digital marketing communications platform for small and medium enterprises submitted by UL.

The competition, facilitated by Dr. Aoife Lyons, director of educational initiatives at Alltech, and Professor Damien McLoughlin from UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, celebrates business and entrepreneurship, and challenges the creative minds of university students.

It was judged by Dr. James Roche, emeritus professor at UCD, Constantin Gurdgiev, economist and lecturer at Trinity College Dublin, and Ross Hunt, co-founder of Agrilarity, a company dedicated to digitising and automating agricultural processes.

Dr. Aoife Lyons said this year's entrants displayed "real insight, talent and knowledge".

“Alltech is known for working with our customers to identify problems and provide natural solutions," she said.

"By combining academic expertise with innovation, each group had a potentially viable product to bring to market.”