Southside Partnership

NEWMARKET KITCHENS and DAN & MONSTRO TO REPRESENT DUN LAOGHAIRE RATHDOWN Southside Partnership DLR is delighted to announce that their clients, local business owners SHANE BONNER of NEWMARKET KITCHENS and MARI DONELAN of DAN & MONSTRO, have been selected to represent Dún Laoghaire Rathdown in the Dublin Regional Finals of the inaugural Local Development Company National Enterprise Awards 2016.

 

The Regional Finals will take place in the Civic Offices, Dublin 8 on 30th June 2016.

Newmarket Kitchen is a food incubator and kitchen facility for Irish food producers. Founded by Shane Bonner in April 2015 when he identified a shortage of facilities for food businesses. Newmarket Kitchen provides space for food producers to prepare, cook and distribute their products. Newmarket Kitchen aims to further expand their premises, offering a range of consulting services to users and developing a food distribution service.

 

Mari Donelan had a dream, inspired by her own family, to create, produce and sell fresh pasta sauces for children and, in May 2014, her Dan & Monstro range was born. From placing 1 type of sauce in a few local shops, Mari has added a curry sauce to her range and Dan & Monstro is now available in 14 Supervalu outlets. By the end of this year, Dan & Monstro will be available in all 42 Dublin Supervalu stores with an expanding product range and target market in Mari’s future plans.

Finn McGuirk, Enterprise & Employment Programme Manager with Southside Partnership commented: “We were delighted when we heard the awards were to take place this year. We know the high standard, dedication and quality of the people we work with and we are very keen to help them promote their ventures in whatever way we can.”

ABOUT THE NATIONAL ENTERPRISE AWARDS 2016

From January 2011 to December 2015, Southside Partnership DLR has supported over 1,300 individuals to move from unemployment to self-employment. Shane and Mari were two of these people. By combining the Department of Social Protection’s Back to Work / Short Term Enterprise Allowance schemes with the supports provided by Southside Partnership’s Enterprise Department, Shane and Mari were each able to receive a basic weekly income along with access to enterprise training and mentoring to assist them in their move from the live register into self-employment.

Commenting on the benefits of the Back to Work Enterprise Allowance, Shane asserted that “without the scheme I don’t think I would have been in a financial position to take such a risk and set up in business.” Mari agreed, explaining how the payment helped greatly when launching her products into the supermarkets, saying she would have “struggled immensely to purchase my ingredients” without the support. To mark the great success of these schemes and supports nationwide, the Local Development Company National Enterprise Awards 2016 aims to acknowledge and celebrate the achievements of some of the individuals involved who have successfully developed innovative and growing businesses. The finals of the National Enterprise Awards will take place in September 2016.

 

 

 

Pictured left to right, Cormac Shaw (CEO Southside Partnership), Esther McGearty (Enterprise Development Worker), Shane Bonner (Newmarket Kitchen, Award Winner) Mari Donelan (Dan & Monstro, Award Winner) Finn McGuirk (Enterprise & Employment Programme Manager.)

 

Presenting the certificates Cormac Shaw, CEO of Southside Partnership, congratulated SHANE BONNER and MARI DONELAN, the successful nominees commenting “We are proud to see such strong contenders going forward to the Regional Awards.” He went on to say that the independent panel who selected the winning businesses had a difficult task choosing the winners because of the very high standard of applications received.

All the staff and Board at Southside Partnership wish the two nominees the very best in the Dublin Regional Finals in June and hopefully at the National Finals in September. NEWMARKET KITCHENS and DAN & MONSTRO were two of the 18 Southside Partnership enterprise clients who recently competed for a place in the Dublin Region Finals, from a wide variety of sectors, including:

 Corporate / Wedding / Event Videography

 Recruitment

 Photography

 Food incubator / kitchen facility

 Martial Arts Club / Studio

 On-line Magazine

 Film Production

 Kitesurfing / Lifestyle Adventure Brand

 Food Producer  Tax / Financial Services Advisor

 Potter / Ceramicist

 Thai Take Away and Restaurant

 Jewellery Maker  Gym / Training Facility

 Moroccan Restaurant  Digital Media Production

 Design / Printing / Web Design

 Body Painting Artist / Event Organiser

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION / COMMENT, PLEASE CONTACT: Finn McGuirk, Enterprise & Employment Programme Manager, Southside Partnership DLR, The Old Post Office, 7 Rock Hill, Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin. Phone: (01) 70 60 100

Email: finn.mcguirk@sspship .ie (In Finn’s absence please contact Esther McGearty, Enterprise Development Worker, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ph: 70 60 100)