Details for National Women’s Enterprise Day in November announced by Minister of State Kathleen Lynch T.D.
Men still “two and a half times more likely” than women to set up a business in Ireland
Women “more afraid to fail” than men, when it comes to setting up a business
Female entrepreneurs from all over Ireland have been recruited by the organisers of National Women’s Enterprise Day on Thursday, November 17th, in a bid to boost the number of women setting up their own businesses in the coming years.
The stories of the eight entrepreneurs, who all run their own business in different parts of the country, will be showcased in front of 300 delegates at a major conference in Portlaoise that day, organised by the County and City Enterprise Boards to inspire confidence in other women and to help bridge the gender divide.
To help address this enterprise imbalance, four entrepreneurs (Lisa Myers from the Wig Clinic in Cork, Birgitta Curtin from the Burren Smokehouse in Clare, Elena Brennan from Elena Brenna Jewellery in Cavan and Grainne Barry from Anotherfriend.com in Limerick City) have been invited by the County and City Enterprise Boards to present a business case study on November 17th at the National Women’s Enterprise Day conference in the Heritage Hotel in Portlaoise.
Furthermore, a panel of four experienced female entrepreneurs will be discussing how more women can achieve success in their own business. The panel members, Aisling Hurley from Teamwoodcraft (Laois), Liz Waters from Malone’s Cleaning (Dublin), Mary Fitzgerald from Woodlands House Hotel (County Limerick) and Deirdre Murtagh of Causey Farm (Meath) will be giving other women an insight into how they run successful businesses, despite the recession.
“Research from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor report from 2010, shows that women in Ireland have a higher ‘fear of failure’ level than men, that would prevent them from starting a business,” said Louise Fleming, a member of the organising committee with the County and City Enterprise Boards.
“By highlighting the success stories of diverse, confident female entrepreneurs on National Women’s Enterprise Day on November 17th, we hope that more women will be encouraged to set their own business,” she added.
Co-funded by the European Social Fund with support from the Department of Justice and Equality through the Equality for Women Measure, the aim of National Women’s Enterprise Day is to give national recognition to the role of female entrepreneurship. Details for the 2011 conference were announced by Kathleen Lynch T.D., Minister of State, Department of Health and Department of Justice, Equality & Defence with responsibility for Disability, Older People, Equality & Mental Health
UK entrepreneur, author and rower, Debra Searle MBE is one of two keynote speakers, along with the founder of the Itsa Bagel, Domini Kemp. Broadcaster and journalist Collette Fitzpatrick is the conference facilitator and the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton T.D., will be speaking at a networking session the evening before, on November 16th.
Tickets cost €100 each and are available to buy through www.nwed.ie. The conference also includes an exhibition of enterprise support agencies, one-to-one mentoring clinics and networking sessions.