Business born from a bucket now a global success story

Date Published: 29-Nov-2012

An appearance on a television programme, coupled with dogged persistence and an unwillingness to take no for an answer have all contributed to one of the West of Ireland’s major success stories which now celebrates 25 years in existence.

The audience laughed, and some were in convulsions when John Concannon from Kilconly in North Galway arrived on The Late Late Show with a three-headed bucket that he invented out of sheer frustration when working on his father’s farm.

Feeding calves with one bucket drove him mad but an idea flashed in his mind and he proceeded to attach three buckets together . . . but little did he know at the time that it would be the start of a multi-million pound business and he would become a hugely significant employer, not alone in Tuam, but across Europe and Africa.

The story of how John Concannon got his slot on The Late Late is a well-known one. He kept sending his three-headed buckets to a researcher on the programme until she had five or six and eventually – probably in an effort to stop him leaving buckets at the RTÉ reception desk – he was allocated a two-minute slot on the prime-time show.

Back in 1987, with a lot of rural Ireland still in two-channel land, The Late Late Show was the place to be and the 31-year-old with his unique business idea got the chance of a lifetime to prove himself. It didn’t bother him that the audience were in stitches when he appeared in a suit, armed with his three-headed bucket.

In fact, it worked to his advantage because what started as a two-minute slot ended up lasting for 12 minutes and during that time, the man with the distinctive North Galway accent had taken the first step on a journey that would provide employment for hundreds of people as well as supplying the farming community with a series of innovative products.

Twenty-five years later John Concannon still resides in Kilconly; he still speaks much the same way as he did when he appeared with Gaybo on The Late Late; he could be mixing with the country’s glitterati but instead he leads a simple life and is best pleased by having a game of golf with a few locals with whom he can have a laugh.

There are certainly no airs and graces to the man who spends his time devising new products and exploring new markets here and in Europe. He is more at home promoting his products at the National Ploughing Championships than he would be sitting at an opera or attending a glamorous bash.

Even to mark the 25th anniversary of JFC Manufacturing in Tuam, he did not want a lavish occasion and instead brought his staff out for a few pints in Kilmaine. He doesn’t flaunt his wealth, yet he has a reputation for his huge generosity.

What you see is what you get with John Concannon. He is now a very successful businessman and, yet, he devotes a major part of his time towards charitable causes. He is, to a large degree, responsible for the establishment of the Pieta House suicide prevention centre in Tuam, which will open next year.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.