WATERFORD CRYSTAL, the famous Belleek pottery, the Connemara marble and the John Rocha jewellery are just some of the brands available on a new online portal for famous Irish exports.

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny today launched Siopa.com – a website that allows you to shop in Ireland “as if you were there”.

The new business is an online shop for Irish made crafts and goods that is principally targeted at the 40 million strong Irish-American audience in the US market as well as the wider Irish diaspora and anyone else who fancies a bit of classic Ireland in their home.

Keny said in a speech today that the new online portal, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland,  ”represents the very best of Irish innovation and entrepreneurship with the real potential to grow jobs and exports.”

The website is the idea of Lulu O’Sullivan who says she was inspired by her grandmother Kitty O’Shea (not the Kitty O’Shea) who ran a store of her own on Dublin’s Merrion Row which she set up in the 1920s.
Siopa.com has even commissioned a special piece of jewellery to mark the historic visit of US president Barack Obama later this month which the Taoiseach looked particularly pleased with at the launch today.