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Updated at 14.10
2014 saw some 43 female-helmed start up Irish businesses funded by Enterprise Ireland (EI), an increase of 36 since the scheme first began concentrating on women in business in 2011.
The news was announced at a ceremony in Dublin Castle to celebrate the success of the 183 enterprises supported and funded by EI in the last year after a hugely competitive vetting process.
With 1,500 jobs to be created by these entrepreneurs in the next three years, the event brought together the various start ups and individual investors who may or may not have been looking to splash the cash.
Speaking at the event Minister for Jobs, Innovation and Enterprise Richard Bruton described Irish entrepreneurs as ‘the heroes of this recovery’.
“Entrepreneurs created 93,000 jobs in Ireland between 2006 and 2011, while the economy elsewhere shed some 400,000 employees,” he said.
Without those courageous souls we would have been looking at an even greater level of attrition in our enterprise base.
CEO of Enterprise Ireland Julie Sinnamon was similarly elated.
“I think it is quite an Irish thing that we don’t celebrate our entrepreneurs as much as we should, congratulating these 183 businesses is one of the highlights of the year for me,” she said.
I’m especially pleased that fully 23% of the enterprises we have funded this year are run by women, that’s almost three times the global average.
We’re in the departures lounge now after a difficult journey, now it’s time to take flight and soar.
The 183 businesses funded in 2014 are split between 102 high potential start ups and a further 81 beneficiaries of Enterprise Ireland’s competitive start fund.
The entrepreneurships are dominated by the software and services sector with 67% categorised in that manner. The remainder are split between engineering and cleantech, food and consumer products, and medical devices and pharmaceuticals.
A high potential start-up is a business based on technological innovation that will have sales of €1 million a year and employ at least 10 people within three years. They are export oriented and led by experienced teams.
Additional reporting by Cianan Brennan
Originally published at 7.54am
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Having an issue whatsoever with FFG will be outlawed eventually. When they are finished with the high fives and congratulating one another on being incredible, what are they doing to help the 4000 homeless children in the country? Probably just ban non government media on reporting on it.
The opposition voices are serial objectors to housing developments; champagne socialists. If they are upset then this indicates the bill aims to make it much easier to bypass the cranks in order to get housing built. I support the guillotine consequently.
@Lewis Armstrong: As far as I can see, those opposition you refer to object to developments that would hand our housing over to vampire funds.
I presume therefore you are in favour of such government policy.
@Lewis Armstrong: what protections will be included to stop the government purposely delaying all debates and discussions to begin with so they can just guillotine anything they want.
“There is a housing emergency and crisis,” said Harris. ” – the cheek of a FFG to utter that sentence!
Is it the same bill that has had over 1,100 amendments made to it and half of those are by the Housing Minister himself.
Is it the same bill that says an Bord Pleanala have to pay fines if they don’t complete a planning application in a set number of weeks.
Harris says it had a 120 hours of debate and therefore meets the threshold and can be guillotined but it sounds like the 1,100 changes would have taken much of that time, maybe that was the plan all along when they obviously published shoddy policy.
@Lewis Armstrong: True. SFs double speak in particular crying out for more housing while blocking developments all over the place was part of what turned me off voting for them. They points score at every opportunity rather than focussing on the task at hand. It’s irritating.
@Lewis Armstrong: No serious objectors, we have laws in place for a reason to keep governments in check.
Neo liberal agendas favour the rich. Opposition is there to object to bad planning. I drive a lot and see plenty of new build, mostly apartments, lying empty for months.build to rent. Is that what we want in Ireland, faceless builders, reaping profits, money going out of the country to global entities.
Or homes, people can be proud of, not ending up ghost estates, where crime is rampant.
Thought we had moved on from those days.
As a person who was involved in building thousands of homes , with in a few weeks after Nonnan and fg created the legislation to allow individuals to buy all houses and pay no social tax ,everything changing, and yet more then half the people that just voted, think that’s OK,
have your say