National Enterprise Award Nominees Revealed for 2015

Press Release                                                                                                Thursday, May 14th 2015

National Enterprise Award Nominees Revealed for 2015

Local company, ONeill's Dry Cure Bacon Co.representing Local Enterprise Office Wexford at 2015 National Enterprise Awards

All county nominees competing at this year’s National Enterprise Awards have been revealed by the network of Local Enterprise Offices, including O’Neill's Dry Cure Bacon Co. representing Wexford.

The competition is now in its 18th year and has a €20,000 prize fund on offer, aiming to recognise the impressive achievements of small local businesses throughout the country. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. will be announcing the overall winner on Thursday, June 11th at an awards ceremony at Dublin’s Royal Hospital Kilmainham.

In all, 31 nominees have been revealed, representing each of the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) across every county in Ireland and small businesses from the world of food, drink, technology and construction dominate this year’s list. Interestingly, more than half of the nominees only started their business within the last five years.

O’Neill’s Dry Cure Bacon Co. is based in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford and are producers of dry cured bacon – dry cured by hand.

The Head of Enterprise with Wexford, Tom Banville said: “Over the last number of years, our small business community has shown itself to be resilient, innovative and pro-active. Through the National Enterprise Awards, we can all celebrate their achievements, putting our local business success stories on the map.”

Kieran Comerford, the Chair of the Network of Local Enterprise Offices, feels that many small businesses have “turned a corner” over the past eighteen months, saying: “If you look at the number of extra jobs created by companies supported by the Local Enterprise Offices in 2014, you’ll see that just over 4,000 extra jobs were created that year, net. As the first stop shop for anyone thinking of starting a business or looking to grow their existing one, we’re seeing an increasing number of entrepreneurs and start-ups access supports through the LEO network.”

Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards have included Irish Yogurts from West Cork, the Hot Irishman Irish Coffee from Carlow, Grouse Recording Studios from Westmeath and DesignPro from Limerick.

As part of the NEA programme this year, all nominees were invited to take part in a ‘Business Masterclass’ this week at the Heritage in Laois, to help them develop skills that will drive their businesses forward.   

Further information around the supports available to small businesses is available through www.localenterprise.ie and updates around the National Enterprise Awards (NEA) are available by searching #NEAwards15 on social media.

The nominees for the 2015 National Enterprise Awards, organised by the Local Enterprise Offices, are (in no particular order):

LOCAL ENTERPRISE OFFICE

NOMINEE

NOMINATED COMPANY

COMPANY SECTOR

COMPANY WEBSITE

Louth

Gerard Healy

Elemex (Elemex Ltd)

Design of heating  systems and heating technology

http://www.elemexheating.com

Tipperary

Donal Bray

Echo IT Ltd (Echo IT Ltd)

Delivers smart I.T solutions

http://www.echoit.ie

Kerry

Mark Fleury

Fleury Engineering ( Fleury Engineering Services)

Filtration and separation equipment for removing contaminants from fuel, oil and water.

http://www.fleury.ie

Sligo

Martin & Gillian  McGeough

Firefly Orthoses (Firefly Orthoses Ltd)

Design, manufacture and distribution of  Podiatric custom made foot and ankle orthoses

http://www.firefly.ie

South Dublin

Garreth Sloan

ADSL (Advanced Draughting Services Ltd.)

Draughting company, specialising in architectural metalwork and structural steel  

http://www.adsl.ie

Cavan

Brian O' Donoghue

Virginia Medical Supplies Ltd.

Manufacture, wholesale and on-line sale of  medical supplies to pharmacies

http://www.virginiamedical.ie

Dublin City

Paul McDonald

Sonitus Systems (Sonitus System Ltd)

Automated noise monitoring instrumentation

http://www.sonitussystems.com

Westmeath

Niall Gannon

Gannon Eco (John Gannon Concrete Ltd)

Provides sustainable waste management solutions, reprocessing waste materials

http://www.gannoneco.ie

Galway City

Hilary Foley

Nua Naturals (FOCA Organics Ltd)

Health food business specialising in gluten free, vegan and raw foods

http://www.nuanaturals.com

Waterford

Mark Bergin

Coffee House Lane (Coffee Warehouse Ltd)

Authentic coffee roasters and suppliers

http://www.ponticelli.ie

Roscommon

Brendan Allen

Castlemine Farm (Castlemine Farm Ltd)

Selection of home-made cooked products, supplied  to wholesalers

http://www.Castleminefarm.ie

Cork West

Ingrid De Doncker

E-Quiddity Limited  

Providing  companies with the best procurement practices

http://www.equiddity.ie

Clare

Anne Behan

Aine Knitwear (McConnell Woollen Mills)

Indigenous knitwear collections

http://www.aine.ie

Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown

Jim Urell

Property Channel (Residential Utility Management Ltd)

Managing transfer of utilities from landlord-tenant/ seller-buyer

http://propertychannel.info

Wicklow

Barry Gallagher

Glendalough Distillery (Glendalough Irish Whiskey Ltd)

Irish distillery, producing gin, whiskey and Poitín

http://www.glendaloughdistillery.com

Cork City

Tracey Ryan

Bia Beauty Skincare (Bia Beauty Skincare Ltd)

Producer of a range of 100% natural, multi-tasking skincare products

http://www.biabeauty.com

Laois

Kathleen Irwin

Adora Flax (Adora Flax Co Ltd)

On-farm producer of flax oil, which is certified organic.

http://www.adorafarm.com

Monaghan

Seamus McMahon

Brehon Brewhouse  

Irish craft beer, made by hand

http://www.brehonbrewhouse.com

Wexford

Pat O' Neill

O Neill's Dry Cure Bacon Co (O'Neills Food Ltd)

Producers of dry cured bacon, by hand.

http://www.oneillsbacon.ie

Longford

Eamonn &Noel Farrell

N & E Precision Ltd (N&E Precision Engineering Ltd)

Precision Engineering Services

http://www.nandeprecision.com

Offaly

Mark Cotter, Emelyn Murray and Liam Holton

Future Ticketing (Future Ticketing Ltd)

Online e-Ticketing solutions

http://www.futureticketing.ie/

Mayo

Angela Carney

Harvest Moon Foods

Wholefood artisan food producer

http://www.harvestmoonfoods.ie

Kilkenny

Linda Nolan

MyBio (My Bio Limited)

Supplier of research products, technologies and knowledge to the Scientific Research Industry.

http://www.mybio.ie

Dublin Fingal

Michael Rochford

Supply of automotive data, via cloud-based web services

http://www.motorcheck.ie

Carlow

Mick Kelly

Simply Workflow (Simply Workflow Ltd. )

Innovative  workforce management system, to manage mobile workforces

http://www.simplyworkflow.com

Cork South

Denis Coleman

Work Compass (Cognito HRM Ltd)

Online performance management software

http://www.workcompass.com

Galway County

Jerry McCarthy

Vision Built Manufacturing (Vision Built Manufacturing Ltd )

Design, manufacture and installation of  innovative building structures

http://www.vision-built.com

Donegal

Richard LeVert

Kinnegar Brewing (Kinnegar Brewing Ltd. )

Production of clean, crisp, full flavoured farmhouse beers

http://www.kinnegarbrewing.ie

Kildare

Ronan Kelly

Kelly's Mountain Brew (Kelly’s Mountain Brew Ltd)

Award-winning  independent craft beer brewery

http://www.kellysmountainbrew.com

Limerick

Paul Sheehan

Unison Engineering Services Ltd (Unison Engineering Services Ltd)

Development, manufacturing and  installation  of pasteurisers

http://unisonengineering.ie/

Leitrim

Stephen Keane

The Primary Planet (The Primary Planet Ltd.).

Ireland's first children's newspaper

http://www.theprimaryplanet.ie