Irish entrepreneur success stories

FEATURED PROFILES
Cathal Gaffney – Brown Bag Films

Cathal Gaffney of Brown Bag Films has made the journey from college dropout to feted CEO by virtue of hard work, self-reliance and an endless passion for animation.
Tom Kearney – Spice O'Life

Corkman Tom Kearney travelled the exotic historial spice routes of the East before coming home and setting up his own spice company Spice O’Life in Dunmanway.

Bernard Walsh - Hot Irishman

This company has gone from being about 40pc to 90pc export-based in five years.

Finding the best locations is one of the secrets of John Boyle's success.

In the space of ten years, Voya has achieved impressive export growth.

Over the years Edmond O'Reilly has established a number of different businesses.

In 1995 Sahar Hashemi c-founded one of the UK's original coffee brands with her brother Bobby.

In the past seven years Irish Dog Foods has grown from a turnover of €3m to €30m.

John Boyle
Boylesports

John Boyle, founder of independent bookmakers Boylesports, says one of the secrets of his success since he started out on his own in 1982 has been finding the best locations.
Suzanne Browne and Martina Delaney
Clevamama

When the founders of Clevamama couldn’t find specific baby products for their online business, they invented them themselves. Now their innovations are stocked in Tesco, Smyths and Mothercare International.
Sahar Hashemi
Co-founder of Coffee Republic

Sahar Hashemi is well known for being the co-founder of one of the UK’s original coffee brands, Coffee Republic, in 1995 along with her brother Bobby. By the time she exited the business in 2001, it was making a profit of £30m sterling and had built up a portfolio of 100 stores.
Dylan Bryan
Credit Crunch Coupons

Thirteen-year-old Dylan Bryan, winner of the junior category in the Fingal Student Enterprise Awards, has come up with an idea that turns the recession into an opportunity.
Clare McCollum
DipStick

Clare McCollum from Portstewart, Co Antrim was the overall winner of the ‘Leaders of Tomorrow’ awards for 2010, impressing judges with her ‘DipStick’ project.