Entrepreneur of the Year shortlist announced
Ernst & Young has announced the Irish shortlist for the 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year Programme.
The shortlist of 24 finalists was decided after the panel of 12 judges reviewed entries from a range of businesses and individuals across the island of Ireland.
With Ireland continuing to receive more entries per head than any of the 40 other countries and regions which participate in the programme, Enda Kelly, the partner in charge of the programme, paid tribute to the Irish entrepreneurial spirit.
“In the battle for global commercial success, Ireland has to constantly evaluate and regroup its resources,” said Mr Kelly.
“Chief amongst those resources are our entrepreneurs – the people with the drive, commitment and sheer passion for success.
“The individual spots the opportunity for economic and/or social value and then- as an entrepreneur- goes about seeking out the resources from the wider society to make the whole thing happen.
“Our 24 finalists have all achieved this in their chosen field.”
Denis O’Brien, the winner of Ireland’s first programme in 1998, will chair the judging panel.
The first event which the 2005 finalists attend is the Executive Retreat, held in Boston in July. This event is a first of its kind to take place in the world programme.
The finalists for the 2005 event will be profiled in a short series to appear on RTÉ in August / September.
The winner will be announced at a televised awards ceremony in September, held at City West Hotel, Dublin.
The finalists (six of whom are from Northern Ireland) are:
International Category
Gerard Brandon, Alltracel Pharmaceuticals Plc
Kevin Neville, Data Display Co. Ltd
Tony McEnroe, Farran Technology Ltd.
Hubert Watson, Finlay BME
John Concannon, JFC Manufacturing Co. Ltd.
Gerard Keenan, Keenan Systems
Sarah Newman and Andrew Collins, Needahotel.com
Aidan Heavey, Tullow Oil Plc
Industry Category
Frankie Whelehan, Choice Hotels Ireland
Michael Carey, Jacob Fruitfield Food Group
Sean Coyle, Keystone Group
Paddy Callaghan, Nature’s Best Ltd.
William Doyle, Newbridge Silverware
Owen O’Callaghan, O’Callaghan Properties Ltd.
Oliver Hughes & Liam LaHart, The Porterhouse Brewing Company
William Wright, Wrightbus Ltd.
Emerging Category
Gregory J. Turley, ArgusCarHire.com
Andrew Walsh & Craig Benton, Celtic Composting Systems Ltd.
Donal Byrne, Corvil Networks
Brian Conlon, First Derivatives Plc
Brian Baird, Meridio
Ann-Marie Slavin, OPT2VOTE
Colm Lyon, Realex Payments
Jerry Kennelly, Stockbyte
The 12 members of the Judging Panel are:
Denis O’Brien, Digicel Group (Chair)
Brian Long, Atlantic Bridge Ventures
Pat Maher, Enterprise Ireland
Liam Nellis, InterTradeIreland
Liam Shanahan, Shanahan Engineering Ltd.
Gerard McCaughey, Century Homes
Terri Scott, Invest Northern Ireland
Pat McDonagh, Riverdeep
Padraigh O’Ceidigh, Aer Arann Express
Mary Martin, AGI Therapeutics Ltd.
Peter Fitzgerald, Randox Laboratories Ltd.
Kevin Thompstone, Shannon Development.
