Beyond her Weirs
Irish actress named on Forbes mag’s under 30 list.. aged just 14
ACTRESS Alisha Weir has been named in Forbes 30 under 30 Entertainment in Europe – the second youngest person to feature on the prestigious list.
The 14-year-old Dubliner featured in the index, which recognises the achievements of young leaders across media, healthcare, technology and entertainment.
Alisha starred in the titular role in Matilda: the Musical which was released in cinemas last year. She will feature in upcoming horror film Abigail.
Irishmen Ross White and Tom Berkeley also feature.
Forbes said: “Belfast-based filmmaking duo Ross White, 28, and Tom Berkeley, 28, also made waves as the youngest filmmakers in British history to win an Oscar for their 2023 short film An Irish Goodbye.
“Meanwhile, Alisha Weir, the 14-year-old star of Matilda: The Musical, stands out as the second youngest to ever appear on Forbes’ Under 30 Europe Entertainment list (following Millie Bobby Brown, who was 13 when she appeared on our list in 2018).”
Dublin-based firm Akara Robotics founders Robbie Scott, 28, and 26-year-old Cian Donovan are on the science and healthcare ranking. The company, which was founded in 2019, has developed a disinfection robot which can decontaminate rooms up to 20 times faster than a human cleaner.
The pair were joined by Oisin Mcgrath, 29, in this category, who is the co-founder of Galway-based Galenband, a wearable system that monitors cardiac function over a number of months.
It works to detect silent atrial fibrillation, a type of cardiac arrhythmia and Forbes reported Galenband has raised €8.1million in funding to date.
The three founders of Dublin start-up Kota were also mentioned in Forbes’ list of emerging leaders in tech. Kota, which launched in 2022, was founded by Deepak Baliga, 28, Luke Mackey, 29, and 28-year-old Patrick O’boyle.
The trio have developed an employee benefits software platform, which is integrated with health insurance, life insurance and pension providers.
Dale Whelehan, who also featured in last year’s Sunday Independent 30 under 30 list, also featured on this year’s Forbes ranking for his work as head of the 4 Day Week Global Movement.
The group held a six-month trial with 61 companies in 2022, with 92% committed to keeping a fourday working week. Forbes reported the firm now engages with more than 300 companies.
The Dublin-based initiative has raised €920k, providing companies keen in introducing a four-day week with financial courses.
Yasmine Byrne, known as Jazzy, featured in the entertainment list following her breakthrough single last year. The Dublin singer-songwriter hit No1 in Ireland with Giving Me, recording 130 million streams on Spotify.
Northern Irish textiles designer Hope Macauley, 27, is on the retail and e-commerce list.
She now employs 20 knitters, while Forbes said her brand has an annual turnover of €460k.
She stands out as the second youngest to ever appear [on the list] FORBES ON WHY THEY ADDED ALISHA TO INDEX