Business women represent Mayo at ACORNS 10th anniversary events

BUSINESS WOMEN from across the west and northwest came together in Galway and Donegal to mark the 10th anniversary of ACORNS, the award-winning business development programme for early-stage female entrepreneurs from rural areas.

Representing Mayo at the Galway event were Andrea Mears, founder of Andrea Mears Jewellery, Emily O'Callaghan of Achill Island Film Festival, Munaza Gilmore of the Brow Movement and Abaigéal Warfield of Dragonfly Yoga.

Representing Mayo at the Donegal event was Jennifer Davidson, founder of HeartFelt Drama and chair of the Writers’ Guild of Ireland.

Hosted at The Dean Hotel and Harvey’s Point respectively, the event is one of a series of regional gatherings designed by ACORNS to help former participants network with peers from different cycles. The events aim to help participants broaden their networks, do business with each other, focus on their development goals and exchange ideas on overcoming business challenges.

The invitation was open to former ACORNS participants from the region and leading the discussion was ACORNS director Paula Fitzsimons and one of the programme’s voluntary lead entrepreneurs. Triona Mac Giolla Rí, co-founder and director of Aró Digital Strategy, a hotel-tech agency with head office in the Connemara Gaeltacht, was at the Galway event and Larissa Feeney, the CEO and founder of Kinore, formerly known as Accountant Online, a multi-award-winning chartered accountancy firm based in Donegal, was at the Donegal one.

ACORNS is a free initiative for early-stage female entrepreneurs based in rural Ireland. It has been running since 2014 and is funded through the Rural Innovation and Development Fund by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM).

ACORNS 10 is now underway, with 56 early stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland have been selected to participate. The new cycle got underway with a residential launch forum in October.