STIMULATING AND SUPPORTING NEW BUSINESS IN IRELAND

Midlands Seminar & Information Event aimed at Young People and Enterprise

By James Donlon, November 6, 2006

On Tuesday, 24th October, 300 students from second level schools in counties Westmeath, Roscommon and Longford participated in a Conference for young aspiring entrepreneurs. The Conference was hosted by Westmeath, Roscommon & Longford County Enterprise Boards in conjunction with WESTBIC. Speakers on the day included:

James Hyland, MD, Creative Sounds Ltd>, Bubble Hits (Sky Digital 364).
Bubble Hits is a brand new commercial free music channel that airs on Sky Digital Channel 364. From Mitchelstown, Co. Cork, James Hyland (23) cut his teeth in the entertainment industry at the ripe age of 12. From 16 he began working in Tipp FM, Cork’s 96 & 103 FM, Live 95 FM and Newstalk 106 FM, including the production of radio commercials out of a studio in his own home.

John O’Reilly, MD, MMF Archictectural Ltd.
John O Reilly, Managing Director, set up MMF Architectural in 1996 having returned home from travelling in Holland and Australia where he worked in the engineering trade. Known in the industry as a modern, dynamic and flexible company, MMF Architectural has handled an exciting and diverse range of internal and external architectural metalwork projects.
Their products include balustrade, staircases, railings, balconies, retail facades, and canopies.
MMF now operates out of a 13500 sq ft purpose built production facility in Mullingar Business Park, Co Westmeath. Employing 16 full-time staff.
At present MMF conduct 90% of all our work in Ireland, with the rest split between Northern Ireland and London.

Brian Fallon, www.daft.ieBrian Fallon is one of two brothers who founded Daft.ie, Ireland’s biggest property website. Started 10 years ago as a transition year project in school, Daft has grown from its humble beginnings to become one of Ireland’s best known internet brands. In May 2006, the Audit Bureau of Circulation confirmed that daft is Ireland’s most visited website. Over 700 estate agents and 80,000 landlords have signed up to advertise on daft.ie.

MC for the day was Ruth Scott, Disc Jockey, 2FM.

The event was part funded by the EU through the INTERREG IIIC ADEP programme and included participants from the participating EU regions in Finland and France.