Offaly Brothers compete for EY Entrepreneur of The Year
After months of judging deliberations, 24 leading entrepreneurs from across the island of Ireland will finally go head-to-head this week for the title of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. Taking place on Thursday 23 October, over 1,400 of the most illustrious names in Irish business will gather at the Citywest Hotel to celebrate the achievements of the 24 finalists who collectively employ 6,000 people and generate revenues of over €630 million.
Local brothers Vincent and Gerard Cleary (Glenisk) will be representing Offaly in the prestigious business awards.
“Our independent panel of judges have deliberated over this year’s finalists based on their ability to innovate, create value, manage risk and, above all, establish a vision for both themselves and their employees” said Frank O’Keeffe, Partner-in-Charge of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year. “Each and every one of our 24 shortlisted entrepreneurs has overcome significant challenges, particularly in these difficult economic times, to accomplish great success and we look forward to acknowledging their individual and collective achievements at our Awards Ceremony.”
Hosted by Kathryn Thomas and Mark Little, the Awards Gala will be televised live from the Citywest on RTÉ One at 10.50pm, following on from the four-part documentary series on the 2014 finalists, The Entrepreneurs, that broadcast on RTÉ One between 29 September and 20 October.
A winner will be selected from each of the three categories – Emerging, Industry and International – and, from these three winners; an overall winner will be announced as EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2014. The overall winner will then go on to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards in Monte Carlo in June 2015.
The winners are chosen by an independent panel of judges chaired by Padraig Ó Céidigh that includes previous EY Entrepreneur Of The Year winners Denis O’Brien, Anne Heraty, Michael Carey, Liam Casey, Jerry Kennelly, Brian Long, Pat McDonagh and Dr. Edmond Harty as well as representatives from Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland.
Driven by EY, The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme is supported by Invest Northern Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland, The Irish Times, RTE and Newstalk.
The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 finalists are:
Emerging
Bill Walsh – Aspire Technology Ltd
Tony Judge – Clubs to Hire
Terry Fox – Cupprint
Oisin Hanrahan – Handy
Sean Mitchell & David Moloney – Movidius
Andrew Murphy – Sláinte Healthcare
Brendan O’Driscoll & Aidan Sliney – Soundwave
Pat Phelan – Trustev Ltd
Industry
Pat McCann – Dalata Hotel Group plc
John Purdy – Ergo Group
Vincent Cleary, Gerard Cleary, Brian Cleary & Mark Cleary – Glenisk
Ian Haldane – Haldane Shiells Group
Mark Hutchinson – Hutchinson Engineering
Michael Hall & Lorraine Hall – Kestrel Foods
Gregory O’Gorman & Marian O’Gorman – Kilkenny Group
Ian Wilson – Wilsons Auctions Ltd
International
Brian Comer and Luke Comer – Comer Group
Stuart Dobson – Elmgrove Foods Ltd
Mark Roden – Ding
Dermot Smurfit – Game Account Network plc
Brian Crowley – TTM Group
George Mullan – SIS Group Ltd
Gabriel Moynagh – Sysnet Global Solutions
Mike Stack – Tricel
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ (EOY) is the world’s most prestigious business awards programme for entrepreneurs and is run in 145 cities worldwide. Currently in its 17th year, the EOY Ireland programme has evolved into an exclusive development programme for Ireland’s most impressive entrepreneurs. Through its annual international CEO Retreat, peer-to-peer mentoring, executive education series and community impact initiatives, the EOY Ireland programme has established a community of 380+ leading entrepreneurs and gained a reputation as the best-practice EOY programme globally.
Chaired by the 2002 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ Pádraig Ó Céidigh, the independent judging panel includes previous winners Denis O’Brien, Jerry Kennelly, Anne Heraty, Liam Casey, Brian Long, Terry Clune, Pat McDonagh, Dr. Edmond Harty and representatives from Enterprise Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland and InterTradeIreland.
The three category winners as well as the overall winner of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2014 will be announced at the Awards Gala taking place in Dublin on October 23rd. The overall winner will then go on to participate at World Entrepreneur Of The Year in Monte Carlo in June 2015.
EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is supported by Invest Northern Ireland, InterTradeIreland, Enterprise Ireland, The Irish Times, Newstalk and RTÉ television.
