Business
Spain’s new man in the west
The self-styled Galway bin man whose book became a marketing bestseller has been named as the new honorary vice-consul of Spain for the west of Ireland
Oisin Browne, author of The Binman’s Guide to Selling’, was introduced at the official launch to mark both his official appointment and the opening of the new city-based Spanish consular office in the Spanish Institute on Dominick Street.
Galway City Mayor Donal Lyons and Galway County Council Cathaoirleach Mary Hoade attended the reception, and spoke about the strong cultural and trade links between Spain and the West of Ireland.
The occasion was very much a changing of the guard as Ann Tobin, who recently retired from the post after 17 years of service officially handed over the Spanish flag and the official title to the new vice consul Oisin Browne.
Ann was recently awarded the ‘Cruz de Oficial de la Orden de Isabella la Catolica’ by the King of Spain for her outstanding contribution to the Spanish in the west of Ireland.
Oisin commenced his role in March of this year and has been kept very busy. Already he has been involved in the restoration of The Spanish Armada plaque in Forthill cemetery, which was damaged in the storms late last year and has represented the Ambassador on a number of occasions at events throughout the city and county.
Galway is home to over 2000 Spanish residents who live and work here full-time. Some have established their own successful businesses.
“It’s a privilege to help the Spanish community in the west of Ireland that I have been part of for a long time. I look forward being of assistance to Spanish citizens who live here. I am very excited about this role,” he said.
Oisin is a member of the Irish Spanish Enterprise Association and noted the strong commercial links between the two countries citing the increase of imported wine, cheese and other goods.
A fluent Spanish speaker, he took his first Spanish class in 2003 and lives in Oranmore with his Spanish wife Eva, and their two children Mani and Alana who also attended the reception.
“The Spanish culture, language and everyday Spanish life is part of me now. One of my proudest moments was to officially stamp the papers that has enabled my children to obtain their Spanish passports,” he said.
A Galway City student is celebrating success in her ACCA (Association of Certified Chartered Accountants) exams where she achieved first in Ireland and 19th place in the world in her Financial Management exam.
AccountancySchool.ie student Lucy O’Donoghue had completed a Masters in International Management from University of Galway and joined the graduate programme at the Central Bank.
And with her interest in the areas of business, finance and strategic management, she said the next logical step was to look at studying for ACCA qualifications with AccountancySchool.ie.
“When I was starting out on my ACCA journey, it was a bit daunting – twelve exams felt like a mammoth task and at times the road felt never-ending,” she said.
“So, I think the best advice I would give to someone in a similar situation would be not to get bogged down by how far you have to go – take it exam-by-exam and keep chipping away at it. Eventually it will all come together!”
AccountancySchool.ie – based on Fitzwilliam Street in Dublin – is a Platinum Approved Learning Partner of the ACCA, the globally recognised accountancy qualification.
As many as four out of ten female executives in Galway believe they have missed out on a raise or promotion due to gender – and a further 46% said their gender had also played a role in their missing out on a key assignment and more than half (56%) believe it impacted on a chance to get ahead.
That’s according to a new survey conducted by Galway Chamber, which revealed that one in five female executives also believe their gender had resulted in missing out on one or more of these opportunities over the last year – while three out of eight feel that men and women are not treated equally in their current workplace.
These results come from a Galway Chamber survey of more than 100 Galway based female corporate leaders and executives, which was conducted in advance of International Women’s Day.
The survey was conducted over a three-week period in February, issued to members of Galway Chamber.
More positively, it also found that almost two out of three (64%) female executives say they have seen a rise in the number of female corporate leaders in their company or organisation in recent times.
A total of 62% of female executives also believe that gender equality has increased in Ireland in the last year.
Although six out of ten (61%) female executives would characterise the level of gender equality in Galway as “positive, but more progress needed”, this is slightly down on the 64% who held that view when the same question was posed last year.
Also positive were the 92% of female executives who said they believe women have achieved more equal rights in the workplace over the last 10/15 years, up from 86% who were of that view a year ago.
When asked which aspects of equality they had seen progress on in their workplace since they began working with their current employer, 57% said they had seen advances in equal promotion opportunities, 53% on the equal treatment of genders and avoiding discrimination, 51% on the gender spread of leadership and 36% on equal pay.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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ALDI Ireland sourced €20 million of locally produced food and drink from Galway based suppliers last year, according to its annual Economic Impact Report.
The company said it also paid €7.5 million in wages and salaries last year and opened two new stores in Tuam and Mountbellew.
In 2022, ALDI partners with eleven local Galway producers, including key relationships with Sean Loughnane and Arrabawn Dairies – as it began working with 15 new Irish suppliers for the first time.
Operating eleven stores in Galway, ALDI employs over 230 full time staff in the county. All available job opportunities in County Galway can be found on the ALDI Recruitment website.
A total of 45 new jobs were created in ALDI’s new Tuam and Mountbellew stores in 2022. These new store openings form part of ALDI’s dedicated West of Ireland expansion programme which will see the company invest over €63 million and create 140 new full-time jobs and 350 construction jobs across Connacht over the next two years.
ALDI’s stores support multiple charities across Galway at a local level. Each store is part of ALDI’s food waste reduction programme, with ALDI’s Galway stores having donated over 74,000 meals through FoodCloud to local charities.
Each store is also part of ALDI’s Community Grants network with East Galway and Midlands Cancer Support and Voices for Down Syndrome Galway just some of the local charities that availed of the €500 bursary grant in 2022.
In addition to donating to local charities, ALDI also supports local communities through its tree planting initiative, with a commitment to planting one million native Irish woodland trees across Ireland by 2025. To date, ALDI has planted over 540,000 trees across the country. ALDI has planted 35,000 trees across County Galway.
ALDI Ireland Group Managing Director Niall O’Connor said the goal was to make a positive impact in every local community that their stores serve.
“We’re delighted to announce that we spent over €20 million sourcing locally produced food and drink from Galway suppliers in 2022, while investing over €42 million in the county since opening our first Galway store in West City Centre Retail Park in 2000,” he said.
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