Irish businesswomen honoured at awards event
Women Mean Business magazine, WMB, in association with O2 Ireland, today held the inaugural O2 Women Mean Business Conference and Awards 2007, designed to recognise the achievements of Ireland’s businesswomen.
Five awards were presented with Patricia Callan, director of the Small Firms Association, taking the overall O2 WMBusinesswoman of the Year Award 2007.
Nicola Rathbone of Handsban won Accenture WMBig Idea Award 2007, while Tara Cunningham of Release Communciations Intervention won Irish Life WMB Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
Laura Thorp of Laura’s Bakery was chosen as the winner of the County & City Enterprise Boards WMBreakthrough Award 2007, and Suzanne Brown and Martina Delaney of Handy Baby Products were selected as winners of the Bank of Ireland WMB Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2007.
The day-long event included some speakers to motivate and inspire Ireland’s businesswomen including Danuta Gray, Chief Executive, O2 Ireland as keynote speaker; Jacqueline Gold, Chief Executive of Ann Summers and Knickerbox;
Jack Black, Founder and Course Director of MindStore; Hilary O’Meara, Senior Executive with Accenture, and Irish-born Kristina Grimes, finalist on the BBC TV show, The Apprentice.
Speaking at the launch, Rosemary Delaney, Managing Director of WMB Publishing, said, “I am delighted to be part of an event that honours the achievement of Irish women in the business world.
"We congratulate not just the award winners, but all of those hardworking, entrepreneurial women who made the shortlist.
"There’s no shortage of talented, visionary businesswomen in this country and I hope that WMB magazine and these awards will encourage more and more women to realise their dreams.
"I would especially like to thank our sponsors for their support, O2, our title sponsor, and our four associate sponsors. I can honestly say that this event would not have been possible without the vision that Danuta and her team at O2 saw in our proposal, and I am encouraged by the support of corporate Ireland for female entrepreneurs."
