National Women’s Enterprise Day set for 17^th October

To mark National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED), the Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny is hosting an evening event on Thursday 17^th October in the River Court Hotel Kilkenny. Local Enterprise Offices are organising 17 entrepreneurial events across the country under the theme of ‘Making It Happen’, funded by the Government of Ireland in partnership with Enterprise Ireland and Local Authorities.   The Kilkenny event will celebrate and outline how entrepreneurial families are “Making it Happen” in the world of business. The key note speaker for the event is Dr Ciara Kelly, TV and Radio Broadcaster and Columnist and she will also chair the panel discussion.

The panel will consist of the Kilkenny NWED Ambassador Margaret Kirwan, Goatsbridge and her sibling Miriam Donohue, Senior Communications Manager with GOAL who both hail from a strong entrepreneurial family, which they accredit much of to their mother influences, ambition and determination. Also on the panel will be “Mother and Daughter Entrepreneurs” Marian O'Gorman and her daughter Melissa from the Kilkenny Group and recently acquired the Kilkenny Design Centre; together with Rita & Teresa Brennan, Lorimat Jewelers, a Kilkenny based jewellery business.

Fiona Deegan, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny said: “The theme for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day on October 17^th is ‘Making It Happen’ and we want to highlight all the supports that can ‘make it happen’ for women in County Kilkenny that want to start or grow their business over the next year.”

She continued  “It’s great to see that nearly 40% of new business owners in Ireland are women, showing that the gender gap is narrowing according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report**. Through the 31 Local Enterprise Offices, we saw a higher take-up of supports by female entrepreneurs last year – from those that were looking to start a new business venture by themselves to those that wanted to grow an existing family business

For more information about the National Women’s Enterprise Day event and to find out how to book tickets visit www.localenterprise.ie/kilkenny or contact the Local Enterprise Office Kilkenny 056-7752662.