Minister launches programme for 10th annual National Women’s Enterprise Day

Seven events taking place around the country on Wednesday, October 19th to highlight success stories and to encourage more women to access enterprise supports

The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms. Mary Mitchell O’ Connor T.D. has launched the full programme of events to mark the 10th annual National Women’s Enterprise Day, which is being organised by the Local Enterprise Offices on Wednesday, October 19th 2016.

Events are taking place on October 19th in Cavan, Dublin, Westmeath, Meath, Kilkenny, Kerry and Galway to celebrate the success stories of Irish female entrepreneurs and to encourage more women across Ireland to access enterprise supports for starting or growing a business.

All 31 Local Enterprise Offices are behind the initiative and they have enlisted the help of established entrepreneurs to act as Regional Ambassadors, to share their success stories at events that day.

This year’s Regional Ambassadors are Rachel Doyle of the Arboretum in Carlow and Wicklow, Nicola Byrne of 11890 and Cloud 90 in Dublin, Valerie Kingston of Glenilen Farm in Cork, Aisling Hanley of Keenwah Quinoa in Galway, Hannah Wrixon of Last Minute Minders in Limerick, Audrey Gaffney of Audrey Gaffney Associates in Meath, Regina Bushell of Grovelands Childcare in Westmeath and Margaret Reilly of CTR Manufacturing in Louth.

Announcing the full programme of events for next month, Minister Mitchell O’ Connor said: “The theme for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day on October 19th is the ‘road to success’ and I want to encourage more women across every region to start their entrepreneurship journey by developing their business idea or expanding their business. Last year, the Local Enterprise Offices in partnership with the Local Authorities provided invaluable supports including financial and mentoring to 6,250 female-run businesses while more than 11,000 female entrepreneurs participated in specialist training programmes. By highlighting the range of Government supports that are available, I want to increase the numbers of female entrepreneurs starting businesses across all regions of the country which will further enhance our economy by creating more quality jobs in Ireland. I would encourage women to contact their Local Enterprise Office to see what supports are available to them.”

Speaking at the launch, Sheelagh Daly of the Local Enterprise Offices said: “Through financial assistance, microfinance loans, mentoring, training and networking, the Local Enterprise Offices in Local Authorities supported 1,000 more female-run enterprises last year, compared with 2014. There is a wide range of enterprise supports on offer and so we’re encouraging aspiring entrepreneurs and existing business owners to find out about those supports through the National Women’s Enterprise Day campaign.”

Enterprise Ireland is also supporting National Women’s Enterprise Day 2016 and its CEO, Julie Sinnamon was at today’s programme launch, which took place at the Arboretum and National Garden Exhibition Centre in Wicklow. She said: “One in five high potential start-up companies supported by Enterprise Ireland is female-led — just five years ago, that figure was less than one in ten companies. We are very keen to work with women starting innovative businesses that are focused on exports, growth and job creation. Our aim is to continue to support and increase the number of new and existing female entrepreneurs with ambitions for success in international markets.”

Guest speakers at National Women’s Enterprise Day events around the country include the Minister for Regional Development, Rural Affairs, Arts and the Gaeltacht, Ms. Heather Humphreys T.D., Sonya Lennon of Lennon Courtney, Mairead Lavery of Irish Country Living, Patricia Callan of the Small Firms Association, Paula Fitzsimmons of Fitzsimons Consulting, Susan Spence of Softco, Joanne Hession of the Entrepreneurs Academy and Susan Hayes Culleton of the Positive Economist.

Broadcaster Miriam O’ Callaghan, Siobhan Donohoe of IrishTV, Julia Lynes of EasyCity, Fashion accessories designer Úna Burke, Natasha Fennell of Stillwater Communications and Alison Banton of Brooke and Shoals will also be sharing their ‘road to success’ stories on the day.

Tickets for National Women’s Enterprise Day events can be booked from the Local Enterprise Offices through www.nwed.ie and prices vary from €30 to €50 and include either lunch or dinner.