Aer Arann boss scoops top entrepreneur award

Padraig Ó Céidigh, managing director of Aer Arann Express, has won theErnst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Mr Andrew Jones, managing director of Clearstream Technologies, and Mr Brian McCarthy, chief executive of Fexco, took the Emerging Entrepreneur and InternationalServices Entrepreneur prizes. This is the fifth year the awards have been held in Ireland and this year the number of nominees put forward reachedan all-time high.

Mr Pádraig Ó Céidigh, managing director of Aer Arann Express, has been named as the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2002.

Mr Ó Céidigh was presented with the award by the Minister for Finance, Mr Charlie McCreevy, at a gala reception in Dublin last night.

According to Mr Enda Kelly, partner at Ernst & Young, Mr Ó Céidigh was selected from the list of 24 shortlisted finalists for "revitalising and then moving an 'island hopping' aircraft travel service into a new market space and developing a business model to deliver a 'regional superhighway' aircraft travel service in Ireland".

Mr Ó Céidigh and his business partner, Mr Eugene O'Kelly, purchased Aer Arann in 1994 and expanded the business from its Aran Island service to other domestic flights such as the Dublin-Donegal route.

Despite having no track record in the airline industry, Mr Ó Céidigh has overseen a growth in passenger numbers from 10,500 in 1999 to an expected 400,000 this year.

This means Aer Arann Express now carries almost as many passengers a week as it did throughout the whole of its first year in business.

The company employs almost 250 staff, including 40 pilots. With four 50-seater aircraft, it is currently the third-busiest airline operating from Dublin Airport to regional airports in Sligo, Knock, Galway, Aran Islands, Kerry and Cork. Five new services to the UK were added this year, making the airline the fastest growing regional airline in Europe.

Mr Ó Céidigh plans for Aer Arann Express to become a major European regional airline within the next five years, providing passenger services between regions in Ireland, the UK and both to and within northern Europe.

The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awards were organised in association with The Irish Times, Enterprise Ireland, Shannon Development, RTÉ and the Irish Centre for Business Excellence. They are part of a global programme aiming to identify, support and reward entrepreneurs across all sectors.

This year, finalists were shortlisted into three separate categories: Emerging Entrepreneur, Industry Entrepreneur and International Services Entrepreneur. As well as winning the overall award, Mr Ó Céidigh was named Industry Entrepreneur of the Year.

Mr Andrew Jones, managing director of Clearstream Technologies, was named Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year. Clearstream Technologies designs, manufactures and sells medical devices - stents and catheters - used by cardiologists and radiologists.

The company evolved through a management buyout of Angio Dynamics in July 2000, led by Mr Jones.

The management team then began expanding manufacturing capacity and developing new products. Income from licensing agreements for its technology has helped fund the expansion.

The award for International Services Entrepreneur of the Year was won by Mr Brian McCarthy, chief executive of Fexco. Mr McCarthy founded Fexco in 1981 as a Bureau de Change franchise and since then the company has moved into making VAT refunds to tourists and processing prize bonds.

Fexco's business now extends into tourist reservation services in Ireland and credit card processing for international cardholders.

This is the fifth year that the awards have been held in Ireland and this year the number of nominees put forward reached an all time high of 150 entrepreneurs, 50 per cent up on 2001.

Last year's winner was Monaghan-based businessman Mr Martin McVicar, managing director of Combilift, which manufactured the first engine-powered, four-way, all-wheel hydrostatically driven industrial forklift.

Previous winners of the award include Formula One team owner Mr Eddie Jordan, the creators of Riverdance, Mr John Colgan and Ms Moya Doherty, and Esat founder Mr Denis O'Brien, who chaired the independent judging panel selecting this year's winners.

The judging panel comprises Mr O'Brien, Mr Pat Maher, director of Enterprise Ireland; Mr Pat McDonagh, chairman of Riverdeep; Mr Martin McVicar, managing director of Combilift; Mr Patrick O'Neill, chief executive of the Irish Centre for Business Excellence; Mr Maurice Pratt, chief executive of Cantrell & Cochrane; Ms Anne Riordan, director of MediaLab Europe; and Ms Ann Shaw, chairwoman of the Institute of Directors in Northern Ireland.

Combined, this year's 24 nominees employ over 3,400 people. Over the last three years, they have doubled employment and grown their combined sales from €300 million to €500 million.

Mr Ó Céidigh will now represent Ireland in the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo in June next year. Some 53 of the NASDAQ top 100 companies are former winners of the world award.