‘Outsiders can open up our eyes to

DAVID KINSELLA has packed a lot into his 46 years. Born near Gorey, Co Wexford, his parents upped sticks when he was 12 and moved to a 100ac sheep farm with quarrying potential in the foothills of the Slieve Blooms at Roscomroe on the Offaly side of the border with Tipperary.

As a teenager, along with his brothers, he sold turf by the bag and the tractor-load in Roscrea. After finishing secondary school, he studied commercial horticulture in Warrenstown and with a HDip under his belt, went to work in London with Pascual, a major Spanish horticultural company.

Bursting with enthusiasm, energy and ideas, it wasn’t long before the head honchos in Pascual spotted his talent and sent him to manage a watercress farm in Jerez in southern Spain.

Moving from the temperate surrounds of the Slieve Blooms to the white heat of southern Spain was a huge change but the young man took it in his stride.

He became fluent in Spanish and even completed a Masters in Marketing through Spanish at the University of Seville.

David also found time to indulge his passion for music. Traditional music, was always part of the Kinsella household with all eight siblings being encouraged by their parents, Jim and Breda.

David brought his uileann pipes with him to Spain and made contact with local musicians performing and recording with them.

As prospects in Ireland began to pick up in 1997, David returned to work in the family quarrying business, transforming it into an online suc- cess. He also transformed his own life by marrying Margaret, the love of his life and an accomplished Irish dancer. They have one son, Denis.

David was home in time for the build-up to the boom, and soon the family company, We Sell Stone, took off both online and on the building sites around the country

“At the height of the boom we employed about 30 people,” he explains. “They were great days — and while perhaps they couldn’t last at that level, there is no reason why rural businesses like ours should not have a constant and steady stream of business,” he maintains. Like many enterprises associated with the building

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