Over 70 Carlow businesswomen came together in the Woodford Dolmen Hotel to celebrate International Women’s Day with the Powerhouse network and guest speaker Emma Maye, CEO of Ardale Property.
The event began with an announcement of a new partner in the Powerhouse network – Kilkenny Carlow Education Training Board are joining Carlow County Council Local Enterprise Office, County Carlow Chamber of Commerce, Carlow Kilkenny Skillnet, SETU and Carlow Library as one of the stakeholders supporting this key initiative.
“KCETB is delighted to join The Powerhouse Network at such a pivotal moment for women in business across our region. This partnership is strategically important—not only because it strengthens the supports available to women entrepreneurs, but because it aligns directly with our mission to foster skills, innovation, and economic resilience in Carlow and its surrounding communities. By working alongside our regional partners, we are ensuring that women have increased access to learning pathways, professional development, and the confidence-building opportunities that drive real, long-term growth. Announcing this collaboration on International Women’s Day reinforces our shared commitment to advancing equality, championing women’s leadership, and building a more inclusive and dynamic regional economy.” Explains Dr Lindsay Malone, CEO of KCETB.
MC for the event, Dearbhla O’Dwyer, Business Advisor Carlow County Council Local Enterprise Office then introduced the guest speaker Emma Maye, who gave attendees honest insight into how she became an accidental CEO – managing her late father’s estate, taking on Nama, building her own property development business and purchasing a variety of other businesses. Multi-tasking was certainly one of the key themes – as she accomplished all of this while learning to deal with a late diagnosis of dyslexia, having her four children and dealing with various health issues. Emma highlighted the importance of staying true to your values and of playing to your strengths as a person. Her resilience, honesty and clarity of vision were inspirational.
This was followed by panel discussions with representatives from each of the stakeholders, and then a panel with Emma along with Caitriona Cullen, Cullen Nurseries, Anne Lanigan, Enterprise Ireland and Michelle Brennan, Nua.
Official proceedings were brought to a close by President of County Carlow Chamber, Norah Ryan who summed up the highlights from the morning’s discussions – encouraging attendees to take inspiration from the stories that they heard, stay true to their values and never to underestimate their individual strengths and what they bring to the table.
And true to every Powerhouse event, there was then an opportunity to network and to connect with other businesswomen in the room.
‘We are delighted to see the Powerhouse network going from strength to strength. As stakeholders, our focus has always been to create events that enable businesswomen from throughout Carlow to connect, to learn and to grow. The events are practical in nature – we are cognisant of how busy everyone is – and we want to ensure that if you attend a Powerhouse event you take-away practical insights that you can apply to your business or to your career. We also facilitate networking and peer learning – by connecting like-minded businesswomen.’ Explains Dearbhla O’Dwyer of Local Enterprise Office Carlow.
The Powerhouse network runs a variety of events throughout the year – from Business Breaks, to the Powerhouse Generator competition and Powerhouse Networking. For more information or to book upcoming events visit Online Bookings – Carlow
