Awards are handed out for top women
THE Network Ireland Louth Businesswoman of the Year Awards 2018 took place in the Westcourt Hotel recently.
The awards were a huge success with two winners going forward to the Network Ireland Businesswoman of the Year Awards in Galway in September. Two other finalists also received branch awards and each finalist received a framed certificate highlighting their achievements.
The winner in the SME category was Joanne Lavelle from Michael Lavelle Estate Agents, Dundalk. The winner in the Emerging New Business was Karen Morgan Murphy of Travel Counsellors. The ‘One to Watch’ award from the branch went to Áine Nic an Ríogh of @TheDrawingRoom and the ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ award went to Bridget Kerrigan of Bammedia.
Aileen Phelan, President Network Louth, welcomed everyone to the event and spoke about what the awards mean to winners. Roseann Heavy, President Network Ireland, spoke of the growth of the Network nationally and how it is supporting women in business, both business owners and their employees.
The keynote speaker on the evening was Anne Reilly, Founder & CEO of Paycheck Plus, the multi award-winning Irish and UK payroll outsource service. Anne is a previous winner of the Louth Meath Network and in 2012 was runner up at the Network Ireland Business Woman of the Year Awards. Anne told the story of how she started Paycheck Plus and referred to it as her “fifth child”, as she has four sons, but it needed the same nurturing. She spoke passionately about its growth and the achievements and challenges she has faced and encouraged companies to ‘ lift the lid’ on their companies and to get into an imaginary helicopter and look down on their businesses every so often, particularly when issues need to be resolved.
NECRET, North East Cancer Research & Education Trust, was the beneficiary of the fundraising on the night and Ciaran Briscoe spoke of the work and vision of NECRET. The event was attended by a variety of people (male and female) from business and business groups in the county.
Network Louth is a branch of Network Ireland, a Nationwide organisation supporting the professional, and personal, development of women. It provides support, learning and networking opportunities for women in business and enterprise, throughout Ireland, through the branch network.