FOUNDER of the Supermac’s fast food chain Pat McDonagh told a meeting of entrepreneurs in Limerick how he turned his back on a teaching career to sell burgers and chips from a van at the Galway races.
The Mary Immaculate College graduate was one of a number of the college’s alumni to speak at the StartupMIC event, which took place as part of the nationwide Startup Gathering week.
Offering advice to those in attendence, Mr McDonagh added: “If you have an idea you have to love the idea, be passionate about it, believe in your dream and never give up.”
Also speaking at the event were local author Roisin Meaney, Colm O’Brien, founder of Carambola Kidz and Michelle Costello, editor-in-chief of Fusion Magazine and The Limerick Magazine.
The Startup Gathering 2015 was geared towards championing the growth of the startup sector throughout Ireland, with the MIC event designed to celebrate and showcase the entrepreneurial talent of its alumni.
Dr Maeve Liston, event organiser and director of Enterprise and Community Engagement, MIC, said: “The aim of the StartupMIC event was first and foremost to inspire Ireland’s talent base. The number of people entering the entrepreneurial pipeline across the country is ever increasing and therefore we need to promote and support entrepreneurship and help identify entrepreneurial talent at an early stage.
“The Startup Gathering 2015 is an initiative to help more people to start, scale and succeed. The Startup MIC event provided a unique opportunity to hear from past graduates from MIC, all at different stages in their career, on how to take the first steps from ideation phase right through to the formation phase.”
Opening the event MIC president, Prof Michael A Hayes said “The development of entrepreneurial thinking can ensure that individuals are adaptable and capable of dealing with the challenges of the dynamic environment of our global economy and society.”
It is envisaged that StartupMIC will become an annual event.
