Business
Galway duo make shortlist for Social Entrepreneur Ireland Award
Business partners, authors and psychologists, Lorraine Lynch and Arlene Naughten, who received an innovation award from SCCUL Enterprises in the Ballybane Enterprise Centre earlier this year, have now been nominated for a national award for their innovative child-centred programme.
Arlene from Ballinasloe and Lorraine from Portumna have made it through to the final of the Social Entrepreneur Ireland 2015, which will be held in Dublin next month.
Arlene and Lorraine have shown dedication and passion over the past year since the opening of Arlene’s business, Sugru Child Development and Contextual Play Therapy Services in Athlone.
Sugru, which specialises in promoting well-being for children and families, has now expanded its services from Athlone to Athenry’s Primary Care Centre, where services include contextual therapeutic play, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and family interventions, as well as individualised therapy for children with neuro-developmental disorders, such as Dyspraxia and ASD.
The women also deliver professional, education and health workshops to organisations and schools around the county, including mindfulness and positive mental health programmes.
Earlier this year, Lorraine and Arlene launched their book #100happydays4kids in Charlie Byrnes Bookstore in Galway City. It has received acclaim from professionals, children’s organisations and parents alike and earned them the SCCUL innovation award. #100happydays4kids is a parenting book, which guides readers through 100 effective steps to increasing familial well-being and attachment. Readers can register their details on the secure online site and share photos, or blog about their experiences alongside a community of parents from all around the world.
Social Entrepreneurs Ireland have chosen Lorraine and Arlene’s approach to positive parenting from over 180 applicants from across Ireland after they participated in a business boot-camp in Dublin. Judges at the event included Gavin Duffy from Dragon’s Den and RTÉ newsreader Bryan Dobson.
It is part of the Elevator Programme, a national competition which identifies Ireland’s most innovative business start-up endeavours and awards €20,000 to the top candidates. The award ceremony will take place in Dublin’s Mansion House in early July.
For more information on Sugru services, visit www.sugru.ie or call 090-64-99144.
They are also running psychologist-led Well-Being Retreat Summer Camps and Dyspraxia Summer Camps in Athenry and Athlone.
For more information on these, email lorraine@sugru.ie
The new President of Local Ireland, the association representing local news publishers around the country, is Head of Irish Times Regionals Dan Linehan.
Mr Linehan takes over the presidency from Declan McGuire of the Connacht Tribune. His appointment was confirmed at the recent Annual General Meeting of Local Ireland at Bloomfield House Hotel near Mullingar, Westmeath.
Mr Linehan, who has served as Vice President of the organisation for the last two years, said: “The coming years are a very important time for local publishers with many important issues to be addressed, including the implementation of the Future of Media Commission recommendations, defamation reform, the role and support for local publishers in public service reporting and helping publishers develop commercial digital offerings.”
Speaking at the AGM, Mr McGuire acknowledged the work done by the Executive in the past two years under the direction of Executive Director, Bob Hughes, on several projects related to the publishing industry but most especially the successful conclusion of the long-running campaign for the abolition of VAT on newspapers.
He also wished Mr Linehan the very best in his new role as President of the association for the next two years.
Mr Hughes thanked Mr McGuire for his leadership and support during his term of office and said he looked forward to working with Mr Linehan on the key policy priorities for the association, including Government supports, Government advertising, fair remuneration for content from the tech platforms and the reform of the legislation for defamation.
Local Ireland members also elected Seán Mahon, Managing Director of the Southern Star, as Vice President for the next two years.
The shortage of affordable housing is the single biggest impediment in attracting and retaining workers in the West, according to business group Ibec.
At a ‘Regional Insights Series’ meeting in the Galmont Hotel in Galway last week, employers were told that capacity constraints and labour supply are the key challenges facing business growth in the region.
Ibec Head of Regional Policy Helen Leahy said: “There must be greater focus by government on enhancing quality of life issues such as housing and infrastructure which are driving labour shortages in the region.
“Ibec’s vision for the West is to realise its potential to become a globally competitive location. An inadequate supply of affordable housing is now the single largest impediment to attracting and retaining talented workers, without whom business investment and expansions are not possible.
“Labour shortages are a real concern for businesses in the region. People decide where to live and work based on quality of life and access to high quality services and amenities. Industry tends to follow talent, and in this regard, the region needs to have all the building blocks in place as the attraction and retention of world-class talent becomes increasingly competitive on a global level,” said Ms Leahy.
Amongst Ibec’s priorities for the West are:
- Addressing housing and infrastructure challenges
- Transitioning towards a new growth model with Net Zero energy powered by Atlantic offshore wind resources
- Adapting businesses to the new economic realities
- Enhancing capacity and skillsets to achieve sustainable development objectives
- Investment in people and skills
- Creating competitive advantage through digitalisation
- Innovation as a key driver of productivity growth
One in five Galway businesses want to go fully cashless, as the move towards card payments and tapping continues unabated post-Covid.
In all, 22% of Galway businesses would like to be fully cashless, according to a survey carried out by BOI Payment Acceptance (BOIPA), a provider of payment technology solutions, which asked Irish businesses about the current payment landscape as well as business confidence and concerns.
Over one-third (36%) of Galway businesses were unaware there is no contactless limit on mobile wallets – just below the national average – while 54% believe the increase in card over cash transactions has helped them run their business.
Six out of ten Galway businesses expect to grow this year despite the cost-of-living crisis and running costs dominating as key concerns; 62% believe their business will grow over the next twelve months despite global economic uncertainty.
Unsurprisingly cost-of-living increases and running costs were the main concerns the majority of businesses had.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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