Businesswomen from across the West came together in Galway recently to mark the tenth anniversary of ACORNS, the award-winning business development programme for early-stage female entrepreneurs from rural areas.

The event at the Dean Hotel was one of a series of regional gatherings designed by ACORNS to help former participants network with peers from different cycles.

The aim was 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.

Those who attended the event who are running businesses in Galway included Hazel Hendy, founder of Steiriliu;  Assumpta Gallagher founder of Best Practice; Margaret Leahy, founder of Fable Tours; Jane Downes founder of Finance Talent, Grainne Mullins founder of Grá Chocolates and Chloe Lefebvre Bolger founder of The Purple Door Café.

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 underway since October, with 56 early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland selected to participate.

Pictured: Galway-based businesswomen at ACORNS Gathering (from left) Hazel Hendy, founder of Steiriliu; Lead Entrepreneur Triona MacGiolla Rí; Assumpta Gallagher, founder of Best Practice; Margaret Leahy, founder of Fable Tours; Jane Downes, founder of Finance Talent, Grainne Mullins founder of Grá Chocolates and Chloe Lefebvre Bolger, founder of The Purple Door Café.