They might just be the only people in the State who will be forever grateful to the often irritable, always irritating old woman from the Blaskets. Peig gave Mr Cathal Gaffney (28) and Mr Darragh O'Connell (26) of Brown Bag Films their first big break.
It was July, 1994, and they had just left Ballyfermot College in Dublin where they studied animation together. Their idea for a series of short animated films, essentially a send up of the Irish-speaking storyteller was taken up enthusiastically by the Independent Productions Unit at RTE.
When they went to the Montrose studios to pitch their idea they didn't even have a name for the company. A brown leather satchel owned by Darragh, director at the company was the inspiration for their hastily invented moniker.
They were based in Temple Bar, and Mr Gaffney, the producer, says that at the time "we had no clue about business". He says they thought that when their Peig series was aired on television they would just have to sit back and watch the commissions roll in.
It didn't happen quite like that but Brown Bag Films is now one of the most successful animation companies in the country. They started off by getting a £2000 (€2539) loan from the bank for which their parents had to go guarantor. We had a "sort of" a business plan but I wouldn't like to see it now, laughs Cathal. The climate for setting up an animation company was not particularly healthy. "It was, and still is, a feast or a famine, where animation is concerned. A lot of small companies had gone to the wall at the time, so it was difficult getting support," he says.
It was then that they approached the Dublin City Enterprise Board (DCEB). The board is one of a nationwide network of city and County Enterprise Boards established in October 1993. They are locally controlled enterprise development companies that are in operation in each county and local authority area in the State.
The services they provided include financial assistance to start-up and small companies. Grant aid is available for a variety of outgoings including the cost of feasibility studies, equipment and employment expansion. Eligible businesses include the service industry, manufacturing and tourism.
Because they create their animated films, cartoons and television advertisements right through from a germ of an idea to the finished product, Brown Bag Films are classed as a manufacturing industry.
In the beginning they received financial assistance from the DCEB to purchase equipment and again when they employed their first full time animator.
Perhaps the most important aspect of the company's involvement with the DCEB is their involvement in the Plato Initiative, a business networking project where owner-managers of small companies are helped develop management skills. Participating companies meet once a month and larger more established firms share their expertise with the developing companies. "It has put a stronger managerial focus on the company," says Mr Gaffney. "We now plan things out much more and are much more strategy based".
Now based near O'Connell Street in Dublin the company employs 10 people and exports a substantial amount of work. abroad. Past successes have included the Barstool series for @last TV on RTE and the animation of The Irish Times cartoonist Mr Martyn Turner's cartoons. At the moment they are working on a six-minute animated film called The Last Elk and a 13 part series, an adult-oriented cartoon billed as a parody of modern life, with the working title De Brudders. Another company that received support from the DCEB had equally humble beginnings. Tir Na Nog Tours was the brainchild of former Dublin Bus employee, Mr Padraig Phelan. In 1991 he spent a year backpacking across Australia and New Zealand where he saw a lot of companies that were involved in creating tailor-made tours for budget travellers.
Mr Phelan realised that there was nothing like that service for backpackers in Ireland and on his return decide to exploit the niche in the market. Marketing and advertising manager Ms Sharon Lyne says that they offer tours in smaller-than-usual coaches that take visitors off the beaten track; "It is fun yet informative and very laid back," she says. They now have a turnover of half a million pounds a year.
Like Brown Bag Films, Tir Na Nog Tours availed of any support possible from the DCEB. Mr Phelan received financial assistance for employees and got involved in the board's mentor scheme. Mr Gerry Macken, chief executive officer of the DCEB says that the Mentor Programme is designed to provide individuals and companies with temporary advisers to help "identify and overcome obstacles in their development stages."
The mentors role is one of confidential sounding board and an experienced business strategist competent to point out strength and weaknesses in proposed projects. Hundreds of companies all across the state know the value of schemes such as the enterprise boards and many more will reap the benefits in the future.
