The sixteen finalists have been announced for the 2019 Donegal Local Enterprise Awards.
Businesses from across Donegal will compete for the highly-coveted prizes in the finals the business awards, which will be held in the Radisson Blu Hotel, Letterkenny, on the 6th of December.
The finalists are:
- Siobhan Boyle of Sculpt Cosmetics
- Mark Bolton of Bolt On
- Sara and Philip Moss of Filligan’s Ltd
- Cathal Sheridan of Huku Balance
- James Coyle of JC Engineering
- Conor McLaughlin, McMorrow & McLaughlin Solicitors
- Hugh Wilhare, Mulroy Bay Mussels
- Pat Lafferty, Multi-Crete Agri Products
- Derek Walker, Nat Noot
- Andrew McElhinney, O’Donnell’s Bakery
- Andrea Kelly, On the Go Coffee Co
- Ciara Shine, Shine’s Seafood
- Eileen Rafferty, The Bothy
- Lynn Costello Erskine, The Pear in Paper
- Kieran Murray & Conor McGrath of Thinstone Donegal
- Jessica Peoples of Zona Dance
The 16 finalists for the 2019 Local Enterprise Awards were selected following a rigorous screening process of the many applicants.
“The awards have been running for over 20 years in Donegal and we have a stringent process in place to make the short-list, never mind be named as a finalist,” said Head of Enterprise in Donegal, Michael Tunney.
He added that the 16 businesses in the final can all be justifiably proud of reaching this stage.
“Having come through the screening process, the next stage will see the finalists go before the judges on December 5th and the category winners will be announced after that. There will be €10,000 up for grabs across the categories, all that remains now is to see who will win the awards,” Mr Tunney added.
Awards will be presented for Best Established Business (over 18 months trading) with a runner-up in that category as well.
There will also be a winner and runner-up in the Best Start Up Award, while awards will also be presented for Best Donegal Export Enterprise, Best Donegal Enterprise Innovation and also for Food Coast and Creative Coast categories.
“As a county our economy is dominated by small and micro businesses. These awards help to highlight the contribution of these businesses to the economy of Donegal and the important role they play in providing employment and contributing to the sustainability of their local communities,” the Head of Enterprise added.
The Donegal Business Awards are also part of the National Enterprise Awards, with one of the 16 finalists set to get an opportunity to represent Donegal on the national stage next year and Donegal’s overall winner last year, Martin McGuinness, went on to win a Regional Enterprise Award.
Local Enterprise Office Donegal is supported through co-funding from the Irish Government and the European Regional Development Fund 2014 – 2020.
