‘Luck of the Irish’ to help us

THE luck of the Irish will help us get through the next few years, according to the chairman of Enterprise Ireland.

Hugh Cooney said people need to get talking about relishing the challenge and going for growth.

“We will need continuing sacrifice, solidarity and some of the fabled luck of the Irish to get through the next few years. There’s a famous quote that says ‘the harder I work, the luckier I get’ and it will never be more true than in our case,” he said.

Mr Cooney was the guest speaker at the ACCA Ireland business leaders’ forum in Cork yesterday and said the country needs a 100-day rolling plan for the foreseeable future which will “capture the challenge, help with communication and give confidence”.

“The road to economic recovery and new jobs for our people is through innovating at home and growing our exports abroad,” he said.

Mr Cooney said Enterprise Ireland plans to publish its new three-year strategic plan over the next few weeks, which would outline the key initiatives for the agency to 2013.

Meanwhile, at another conference in Cork yesterday chairman of Insomnia coffee chain, Bobby Kerr, said the track record, honesty and integrity of a person is often the key determinant that an investor will look for when considering an investment opportunity.

Addressing the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) annual conference, sponsored by Quintas, Mr Kerr said three key factors which an investor will use to assess an investment opportunity are the person, the business and the use of investor money.

“The person looking for investment is paramount to the whole evaluation process. You look at someone’s track record, how they have performed in business previously, how they have overcome challenges and how they have conducted themselves professionally.

“It is important that you can forge a good working relationship with your investee so it is imperative that you have absolutely no concerns about their honesty or integrity inbusiness,” he said.

“The second element is obviously the business itself. Is it a sound proposition, with a captive market? The business should be a simple structure and one that is readily scalable,” he added.

Mr Kerr said companies need to iron out any issues they have before they approach a potential investor.