Winners of 2020 Network Limerick business awards revealed

LOCAL business women have been honoured after the annual Network Limerick awards were held – with a difference.

Five entrepreneurs have won prizes at the annual ceremony, which was held remotely this year due to the Covid-19 restrictions.

Instead, the Network Limerick president Petrina Hayes and her deputy Caragh O’Shea announced the winners from a studio set in the Savoy Hotel.

Lynda Sheehan (pictured below) of Rockbarton Garden Centre in Bruff won the business innovation award and life coach Moira Geary (pictured in the pink top) was named solo businesswoman of the year.

They were joined in the winners’ enclosure by Lydnsey Hall (pictured below), Piquant Media, O’Connell Street who won the title of transformative employee.

And Denise Brazil (pictured with her husband Peter) of the Bedford Townhouse and Cafe was celebrating on the double after winning the award of emerging new business and the power within champion prize.

In all, 22 finalists were competing across five categories.

Most categories are new this year and were introduced to recognise the unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic; transforming how a business operates while caring for family and others, remote working, coping with a period of isolation or all of the above.

The winners of each award category will now go on to the national finals for Network Ireland which will be announced at a Gala Ceremony streamed live from the Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow on October 2.

The special guest speaker at the Limerick awards night was Dr Sinead Kane, motivational speaker and ultramarathon runner.

She joined the event from her home in Cork, and shared her insights from personal experience on how to overcome adversity and build resilience thereby creating a mindset for success.  

Ms Hayes said: “Our annual Businesswoman of the Year Awards were transformed this year in more ways than one to reflect the vastly altered working world in which we all find ourselves. Despite the changes and challenges, we were delighted to have the opportunity to acknowledge our members who have demonstrated how strong, capable, and courageous they are in a time of crisis.  We had 22 inspiring finalists this year which is incredible given what we’ve been through so far this year. I would like to congratulate them all and wish our well-deserved winners the very best of luck at the nationals.”

She paid tribute to the event sponsors – the Local Enterprise Office and AIB – alongside the judges, and those who helped the unique ceremony be staged remotely.

Despite not being able to attend in person, the finalists still got dressed up for the awards and were joined by their family and friends at home as they watched the ceremony via zoom.  

Also in attendance were judges Mary Killeen, LEO Limerick, Shona Keane, AIB and Patrick O’Sullivan along with Louisa Meehan, the national president of Network Ireland.