Fingal’s best young entrepreneurs make it to County Final
€50,000 investment fund to be won by six young entrepreneurs in the county, aged between 18 and 35
The search to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) is advancing to the County Final stage, which takes place on Thursday 30th November in County Hall, Main Street, Swords and is being organised by Local Enterprise Office Fingal.
IBYE, which has a €2 million investment fund, is run by all 31 Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) and is supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Enterprise Ireland.
At the upcoming IBYE County Final on Wednesday 30th November, Local Enterprise Office Fingal has an investment fund of €50,000 to award to six local entrepreneurs across three categories: Best Business Idea, Best Start-Up Business and Best Established Business.
Over 100 Fingal IBYE applicants were invited to the prestigious business networking event “Celebrating Entrepreneurship”, with Mayor of Fingal, Cllr. Mary McCamley and Chief Executive of Fingal County Council, Paul Reid.
The competition is now in its fourth year and Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Fingal said that the standard of entries is higher than ever. “The exceptionally high standard of entries will make the competition tough and challenging, but it will also help bring out the full potential of entrants and inspire them to succeed whether they win at the County Final stage or not. We see the IBYE initiative as a springboard for young entrepreneurs here locally, who want to start or expand a business. They will have the support of their Local Enterprise Office all year round.”
The fifteen finalists selected from over 100 applications are: in the Best Idea category, Alan Griffin of Portmarnock, Suzanne Culleton of Malahide, Orla McLaughlin of Baldoyle, Kevin Kelleher of Malahide and Justin Perry of Portmarnock. In the Best Start-Up category: Sean Murray of WeBringg from Castleknock, Liam Brennan of ScoobyBox from Baldoyle, Bernard Nolan of MediMe from Malahide, Marck Kulik of Smart Trace Ltd from Malahide and Agnes Chvojka of Aggies Food Studio from Castleknock. In the Best Established category: Gary Egan of Egan Mechanical Services from Clonee, Emma Smith of FX Makeup Academy from Malahide, Ryan Scott of Drop Chef from Sutton, Seamus Tighe of Everest Granola from Blanchardstown and finally Mark Coleman of The Hot Seat from Rush.
Paul Reid Chief Executive of Fingal County Council said “Fingal has the youngest and fastest-growing population in the country, with a growth of 8% in the last five years. It is essential to Fingal’s continued economic prosperity that job creation and business start-ups continue to be supported and allowed to grow, and this scheme provides a tried and tested channel for young entrepreneurs to succeed.”.
Further details on the competition and supports available to young entrepreneurs are available through www.localenterprise.ie and from the IBYE website at www.ibye.ie.
