Press Release
Tuesday, December 1st 2015
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur National Final is this Sunday
Local entrepreneur competing to become Ireland’s “Best Young Entrepreneur” at
National Final on Sunday, December 6th
In the lead-up to Sunday’s ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ National Final, the
Radio and Television Broadcaster Claire Byrne, has been confirmed as the host of
this year’s awards ceremony.
The National Final comes at the end of an eight month search, launched by An
Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D. and Minister Richard Bruton T.D. through the Local
Enterprise Offices, to find Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur for 2015.
(Please insert name) from (please insert company name) in (please insert location)
is representing the Local Enterprise Office (please insert county/city) at the Foundry
in Google this Sunday.
After a series of 31 LEO finals and eight regional finals involving 1,400 competitors,
the 24 finalists, all aged between 18 and 30, are now preparing to deliver their live
pitches to the judging panel on Sunday.
(Please insert names and titles, eg Head of Enterprise, Chief Executive, An
Cathaoirleach) are planning to travel to Dublin this weekend, to support the local
finalist.
Supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise
Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices, the competition is designed to seek out and
support entrepreneurial talent across the country. Now in its second year, the
competition was opened up this year to include young Irish entrepreneurs based
abroad, looking to set up operations in Ireland.
Minister Bruton will be naming Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) on stage,
presenting €100,000 in investment funds to the three winners on the day.
He said: “Having met all 24 National Finalists on a couple of occasions now, they are
an inspiring group of young entrepreneurs. Their energy, commitment and, above all,
their impressive businesses are providing a great example to many other businesses
and young people who we are relying on to create the businesses that will be the
bedrock of the Irish economy. Over two thirds of all new jobs are created by
businesses like those created by these young entrepreneurs, and it’s been a
pleasure to be involved in the development of their businesses”.
The supports on offer to all young entrepreneurs are also being highlighted by the
Local Enterprise Offices in the Local Authorities Network. (Please insert name and
title) of Local Enterprise Office (please insert county/city) said: “The network of Local
Enterprise Offices support thousands of young and aspiring entrepreneurs every
year. Through the course of this year’s IBYE competition for example, 450 young
entrepreneurs have already participated in business bootcamps, 92 local winners
have won ‘game changing’ investments of between €10,000 and €20,000 for their
businesses and hundreds more have been offered training and mentoring
opportunities, all through their Local Enterprise Office.”
At last year’s inaugural national final, Eamon Keane at Xpreso Software in South
Dublin was crowned Ireland’s best young entrepreneur for 2014; Philip Martin won
the ‘Best Business Idea’ category for the Blanco Nino tortilla-chip factory in Tipperary
and Dean Gammell from Westmeath took the ‘Best Established Business’ award for
TheGroupSystem.com
This year’s judging panel includes two successful entrepreneurs: Brian Crowley of
the TTM Group and Sarah Doyle of Kinesense, alongside Colin Goulding of Google,
Tom Hayes of Enterprise Ireland and Christine Charlton of the Local Enterprise
Offices.
The host of Sunday’s National Final, Claire Byrne, has been impressed by the
calibre of the IBYE finalists this year, saying: "I’ve been following the progress of this
competition since the launch earlier this year. These National Finalists are already
carving their own paths in business and as role models for their peers, they are
helping to promote entrepreneurship as a viable career option for more younger
people."
Further updates about ‘Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur’ and YouTube videos for
each of the national finalists are available through www.ibye.ie or by searching #ibye
on social media.
The official IBYE channel on YouTube is https://www.youtube.com/user/IBYEire.
ENDS
For all media queries around #IBYE, please contact your Local Enterprise Office
Notes to Editor:
Claire Byrne:
Claire is a radio and television broadcaster with RTÉ where she specialises in current affairs
programmes.
She presents Claire Byrne Live on Monday nights on RTÉ One and RTÉ News Now. The current
affairs programme brings in-depth analysis of current issues and topical reports. Previously she was
part of RTÉ’s flagship current affairs programme Prime Time for two years.
Claire currently hosts a current affairs programme on Saturday afternoon called Saturday with Claire
Byrne on RTÉ Radio 1. The topical current affairs show questions agendas, dissect the week gone
by, and debate the likely issues of the week to come.
Previously she has worked with Newstalk and TV3 in Ireland, ITN and Channel 5 in London and
Channel 103FM and the BBC in the Channel Islands.
#IBYE Competition
Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur competition is run by the Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs) in the
Local Authorities Network, and the winners at county level are eligible for an investment in their
business of up to €20,000, while the winners at national level can receive an additional investment of
up to €50,000. Winners of individual categories can also win additional investments in their
businesses.
Mentoring, marketing and other supports are also available to participating businesses at various
stages of the competition. The competition is open to individuals aged 30 and under and will be
judged under three distinct categories:
Best Business Idea (best idea for a new business)
Best Start-Up Business (in business for up to 24 months or less
Best Established Business (in business for longer than 24 months)
The first stage was a county-based competition (run by the 31 LEOs) which led to the naming of the
Best Young Entrepreneur in each county. This stage also included bootcamps and mentoring
programmes. This was followed by eight regional finals to select the 24 national finalists. At the
national final on December 6th, one businessperson will be crowned Ireland’s Best Young
Entrepreneur.