Quilty’s Wild Irish Seaweed wins top County Enterprise Award

A SEAWEED business from Quilty is this year’s winner of the Clare Final of the National Enterprise Awards for 2023, Local Enterprise Office Clare has announced.

Wild Irish Seaweeds took the top prize of €3,000 and will now represent Local Enterprise Office Clare the 23rd National Enterprise Awards at the Round Room in Dublin on the 1st June.

This business produces seaweed products for the following industries: Food Ingredients, Cosmetic, Nutraceuticals, Retail, Food Service, Horticulture, and Agriculture. They have ranges of seaweed products for all these sectors exporting Organic Seaweed to 18 different countries.

Other winners at the Clare Final of the National Enterprise Awards held at the Old Ground Hotel, Ennis included: McConnell Woollen Mills, Killaloe – Best Export Award; Palm Free Irish Soap, Tuamgraney – One to Watch Award; INDIGO, Shannon – Best Productivity Award; IFF Plastics, Cree –Best Sustainability/ Green Award.

Evan Talty of Wild Irish Seaweeds will now be competing against 30 other finalists from every local authority area for a share of the €35,000 winners prize fund as national judging gets underway in May. Categories this year include ‘Best Export Business,’ ‘Best StartUp’ and ‘Innovation,’ along with “One to Watch” and a “Sustainability / Green” award in addition to eight regional awards.

Previous national winners from

Clare include Callan Technology, ABC Nutritional, McConnell Woollen Mills and Torpeys.

The Clare final took place as part of a very successful Local Enterprise Week programme of events. There were over 300 physical events took place across the country, run by the 31 Local Enterprise Offices from March 6th to 10th.

Speaking during Local Enterprise Week Padraic McElwee, Head of Enterprise with Local Enterprise Office Clare said: “The National Enterprise Awards is about recognising and celebrating the achievements of small businesses. It also reflects the contribution these businesses make to their local communities by providing employment and the role they play in the economic vibrancy of our County. It was great to see such diversity and success among all our finalists and my congratulations to the winners. I wish our overall winner, Wild Irish Seaweed every success in the national finals later this year.”

Other local businesses were also shortlisted this year, and they were Wix & Wax Ireland, Welcome to the New World, Inagh Farmhouse Cheese, Great Visitor Experiences, Tensile Testing Services, Evolve Technologies, Alba Innovations, Hurst Botanicals & Clare Jam Co.

Among the special guests at the ceremony were Cathaoirleach of Clare County Council, Cllr. Tony O’Brien.

He commented: “I wish to congratulate Wild Irish Seaweeds on winning the Clare Final and I wish them well as they go on to repre- sent LEO Clare at the National Enterprise Awards in Dublin on 1st June. I would like to commend all the businesses who were category winners and all those who were shortlisted in the Clare Final. The range of businesses participating is a reflection of the vibrant business sector in County Clare and I would like to acknowledge the role of LEO Clare for the support that they pro- vide.”

Members of the judging panel included Gillian Slattery of Enterprise Ireland, Damien Barrow of Curtin O’Friel & Co Accountants and Michelle Guthrie of LEO Clare.

Other high-profile events that took place during the week included the launch event, Navigating Recruitment & Retention for Employers, Supporting Small Business in the Digital World & Women in Business Workshop - Pitching to Win as well as Enterprise Clinics in Shannon, Kilrush and Scariff.

Local Enterprise Week is organised every year by the Local Enterprise Offices and supported by Enterprise Ireland, local authorities and the Government of Ireland with over 300 events taking place nationwide this year.

N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Improvement Scheme Design Update

Clare County Council is progressing the development of the N19 Shannon Airport Access Road Improvement Scheme in partnership with Transport Infrastructure Ireland and the Department of Transport. Fehily Timoney and Clandillon Civil Consulting Joint Venture are the appointed Technical Advisors to advance the project through the planning and design stages. The project is being managed by the Mid West National Road Design Office on behalf of Clare County Council. The Preferred Option that was announced in November 2021 included a combination of active travel measures for walking and cycling, improvements to public transport, along with new and improved road infrastructure between Drumgeely roundabout and Knockbeagh Point roundabout on approach to Shannon International Airport.

Since the conclusion of the Public Display of the Preferred Option, the design team have been progressing the design and environmental evaluation of the Preferred Option. The design of the Preferred Option has been developed following detailed consideration of landowner engagement, stakeholder feedback, environmental surveys, transport surveys and ground investigations.

Design Update drawings are now available for viewing on the project website www.shannonaccess.ie, with hardcopy maps on display at Clare County Council’s Head Office in Ennis, Shannon Municipal District Office, and Shannon International Airport.

For further information visit www.shannonaccess.ie or contact the project team at info@shannonaccess.ie or telephone 065 6866147.