One of Ireland’s most successful entrepreneurs has been named the inaugural winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award as part of this year’s National Enterprise Awards. David Walsh, the former CEO and founder of global remote monitoring system Netwatch, has been selected to be the first recipient of the award by the Local Enterprise Offices as part of the National Enterprise Awards, which take place virtually on February 11th.
David Walsh, National Enterprise Awards Outstanding Achievement winner and CEO of HaloCare; “I’m honoured and delighted to accept the inaugural Outstanding Achievement Award. Throughout my years in business, and more recently with HaloCare, our many shared successes have been driven by the people who work with us, who support us, and who place their confidence in us every day: our staff, our partners, and our customers. I have always had strong belief in the talent and energy of communities, and the symbiosis that comes from putting your confidence in local talent."
“For me, I’ve placed my trust in the people of Carlow for decades, and in return we’ve received superb support from LEOs, industry bodies, local businesses, and of course from the loyal and talented workforce that make businesses such as HaloCare what they are. The Outstanding Achievement Award is a testament to the people, both customers and employees who have put their faith in us, especially in these difficult times and is a huge endorsement for them that they have made the right decision in choosing HaloCare,” Walsh said on receiving the award.
Walsh recently unveiled his latest venture, HaloCare, having founded and grown Netwatch from an office in Carlow to an international company employing over 500 people with 250,000 customers across 4 continents. The Kerry native and UCD Agricultural Science graduate moved to Carlow initially to join international feed technology company Keenan. He rose through the ranks before in 2002 starting Netwatch with co-founder Niall Kelly and an ambition of creating a global company headquartered in Carlow, having admired the success of Kerry Group while growing up in the Kingdom.
Walsh embedded himself in the enterprise culture in Carlow, working closely with the Local Enterprise Office there to help establish Netwatch and then moving on to Enterprise Ireland as the company grew internationally. In early 2020 he stepped down as CEO of Netwatch, having created one of Ireland’s most successful international companies and soon after launched HaloCare with Niall Kelly and Dr. Johnny Walker. Born as a response to the Covid-19 pandemic, HaloCare aims to enable older people to live at home longer and with a better quality of life. HaloCare utilises smart technology and health data to empower older people, allowing the technology to step in for the many hours per day that a homecarer or family member can’t be there to look after them.
While Walsh’s success in business has garnered plenty of praise, it’s his contribution back to the business community, particularly in Carlow, that has endeared him to many. Breda Fox, Chair of the National Enterprise Awards Committee with the Local Enterprise Offices, said; “David Walsh is an extremely worthy winner of our first Outstanding Achievement Award. His success speaks for itself, turning Netwatch from a Carlow startup to an internationally recognised brand and now with HaloCare he will likely follow the same path. However David never forgot the process of getting there and the resources that are required to start up. He has played an integral part in fostering entrepreneurship in Carlow, whether it’s working on enterprise facilities or developing business programmes with LEO Carlow to help other businesses. Success has never stopped David giving back whether that is giving his time to students or other entrepreneurs and that is very much the measure of the man we will honour on the night.”
Walsh receives the award as part of the Local Enterprise Offices National Enterprise Awards, that will take place virtually on the 11th February. Netwatch are a previous finalist in the awards that are now in their 22nd year. There are 30 Finalists from across the country competing for a prize fund of over €50,000.
There are awards for Future Focus, Exporting & Innovation along with two new awards, the Brexit Ready Award and the Pivot Award along with an overall winner. Recent winners of the National Enterprise Awards include skincare company Pestle & Mortar (2019) and automated mineral feeding technology company Terra NutriTech (2018). For more information and to see all 30 of this year’s finalists go to www.LocalEnterprise.ie/Awards