Two Donegal women are in the running for top business awards tonight as the IMAGE Businesswoman Of The Year Awards take place.
Harvey’s Point Hotelier Deirdre McGlone and CEO Larissa Feeney of accountantonline.ie are both up for coveted awards.
Each year the IMAGE Businesswoman of the Year Awards celebrates inspirational women from all areas of the Irish business world. The winners will be announced tonight at a high-profile gala event in The Clayton Hotel, Dublin.
Deirdre McGlone was shortlisted for the Entrepreneurship award for 2017.
On becoming a finalist, the Ballintra native told DonegalWoman.ie: “I am overjoyed and overwhelmed, firstly to be nominated and most importantly, by the amazing good wishes from people throughout Ireland.
“The nomination greatly assists me in my work to make the voice of women heard in rural Ireland and of course it’s such a great opportunity for me to promote our beloved Donegal.”
Deirdre was Donegal Person of the Year in 2015 and is highly regarded as a champion of Donegal tourism and women in business.
She is President of Donegal Women in Business Network, a member of ‘Going for Growth’, and volunteer Lead Entrepreneur in the pilot programme ‘ACORNS’ which is an initiative to support aspiring female entrepreneurs in rural locations throughout the country.
Larissa Feeney
Larissa Feeney is a finalist in the Start-Up category in the IMAGE awards.
The Sligo native is the CEO of accountantonline.ie, Ireland’s first online accounting website service which is based in Letterkenny.
Larissa told DonegalWoman.ie how seeing her name among the finalists was a particularly special surprise:
“I was very surprised and delighted. It is a very prestigious award with a great reputation for quality nominations. Over the years I have always checked out the nominations and the winners for my own inspiration, so it is very nice to see my name there. I am proud to be representing the North West,” Larissa said.
Larissa launched her business online in 2015, and has built up a growing global client base, expanded her team and launched webinars on her site. She has celebrated many achievements in the first years of her business. She won the Best Innovation Award in the Letterkenny Business Awards in November 2014 and Best Small Practice at the Irish Accountancy Awards 2017.
Clodagh Edwards, CEO of Image Publications celebrated the 2017 finalists, saying: “Compiling the shortlist this year was a huge challenge. With over 443 individual entries, our largest number ever, competition proved stronger than ever for places. It took a lot of deliberation, and the women who made this shortlist are truly inspirational.”
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