Where budget literacy
becomes a practical skill
Pokypyu started in 2024 with a straightforward observation: most people who need to understand budget analysis have never had a clear, structured place to learn it. Not a textbook. Not a seminar. Something that works around a real schedule, from anywhere in the country.
How a gap in the curriculum became a course
Fionnuala Ó Briain spent 11 years reviewing public sector spending reports and kept noticing the same problem: the people responsible for budgets often had no formal training in reading them.
She built the first version of what became Pokypyu over 6 months, testing it with 38 participants from local government, small business, and community organisations. The feedback was blunt — people wanted fewer definitions and more worked examples with real numbers.
That feedback shaped everything. Every module now starts with a scenario, not a concept.
The people who built this
Three people with different professional backgrounds, all with the same frustration: budget analysis training was either too academic or too shallow. They decided to fix it.
Fionnuala Ó Briain
Curriculum Lead
Fionnuala spent over a decade reviewing spending reports across 3 government departments before turning that knowledge into structured learning modules.
Darragh Ní Fhaoláin
Learning Design
Darragh approaches course structure the way an editor approaches a manuscript — cutting anything that doesn't earn its place. Her work reduced drop-off by a measurable margin in the second cohort.
Cormac Breathnach
Platform & Access
Cormac's job is making sure the platform doesn't assume a fast connection or a new device. He tested the system across 9 different network conditions before the public launch.
A short record of what actually happened
No roadmap language. Just what was built, tested, and changed — and roughly when.
Pilot design and first 38 participants
The original curriculum covered 4 modules and ran over 8 weeks. Participants came from local government, community finance, and small business accounting. Completion rate in the pilot: 71%.
Restructure based on feedback
The pilot feedback pointed to two problems — too much theory at the start, and modules that ran too long. The team rebuilt the structure around 20-minute worked examples instead of 60-minute concept lectures.
Platform goes live, first national cohort
Pokypyu opened to learners across Ireland in September 2024. The first national cohort brought in 214 registered learners from 14 counties. Darragh's redesigned learning flow brought average module time down to 41 minutes.
Accessibility audit and mobile optimisation
Cormac ran a full accessibility review against WCAG AAA standards and tested across 9 network conditions. The result was a platform that works reliably on 3G connections — relevant for learners in rural areas where broadband coverage is still inconsistent.