A LIMERICK entrepreneur who is generating €2m for the rural economy per annum has scooped the overall 2010/11 JFC Innovation Award.
The JFC Innovation Awards for Rural Business is an all-island competition for farmers and rural entrepreneurs who have a business that has commenced trading in the last five years.
Bernie Carroll from Bruree had been placing foreign students into secondary schools for 18 years through Ballyhoura Country Holidays and two years ago set up her own business, Student Programme Ireland which is based in Charleville to develop the model further.
“I’m not just delighted or thrilled. I’m absolutely over the moon to have won this overall award. I believe I’m the first woman to win it outright and I hope I won’t be the last. To win this for my work in rural Ireland is extra special because I’ve been involved in rural development for years.
“I do a job I absolutely love and this win is just the icing on the cake. It’s an exceptionally rewarding job that I do and I’ve met some truly exceptionally students over the years. Some people give out all the time about teenagers but I’ve met some remarkable young people, exceptional students who are so appreciative of anything we do for them. They thoroughly enjoy their rural experience and it is something which changes many of their lives,” Bernie said.
Organised by DARD, (the Northern Ireland Department of Agriculture and Rural Development), Teagasc, the Irish Local Development Network (ILDN), the Irish Farmers Journal and sponsored by JFC Manufacturing, the overall prize fund for the competition is valued at €40,000.
Congratulating the winners, John Concannon, Managing Director of JFC, said there is a wealth of talent and innovative ideas that need to be tapped into. “Innovation is needed more than ever in the current economic climate. We need to see new businesses emerge that will create employment and generate wealth in rural areas. The added value of this competition is that it is all-Island, which opens up a much larger marketplace for any successful applicants.”
