This article is from page 13 of the 2007-09-18 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
Castlebar, Carrie-Anne has quali- fied for the 2007 Shell Livewire Young Entrepreneur title, which will be presented at an awards ceremony on October 23.
Carrie-Anne Barry established De Barra Publishing Ltd in September 2006 after returning home to Ireland with a unique business idea — to de- velop and retail resources and educa- tional materials for the childcare and pre-school sector.
She explains, ““While living in Va- lencia, | was very impressed with my three-year-old daughter’s pre-school, which utilised a curriculum planning concept that fully engaged parents through use of creative materials and music. It worked brilliantly and I imagined it could be adapted and
developed to bring similar benefit to families in Ireland. When I returned home, I conducted intensive research in the childcare sector and identified a huge opportunity for my business idea.”
The company has developed the Project Bubbles brand, a comprehen- sive programme of play-based ac- tivities, ideas, music and visual aids designed to help care providers and parents with the day-to-day provision of a quality childcare experience for children aged two to five years.
“Project Bubbles features easy to follow guides, manuals and cur- riculum-planning tools for childcare practitioners. Included are hundreds of activities, games and creative ideas for each month of the year, original music and songs linked to monthly themes, character puppets represent- ing cultural and social diversity, posters, flashcards and themed jig- saw puzzles, as well as communica- tion tools to engage parents in the planned curriculum,” Carrie-Anne explained.
Currently employing five full-time Staff, Carrie-Anne has ambitious plans to extend the company’s prod- uct line to include an Irish language version, a cultural project, adding O- | and 1-2 age groups, as well as an after-schools programme.
Speaking at the western regional heat awards dinner in Westport, Shell spokesman, Christy Loftus, said that Shell strongly believed in celebrating and encouraging the goals and am- bitions of Ireland’s young entrepre- neurs as they are key to increasing the business birthrate and stimulat- ing the future growth of the region’s economy.
“This year’s entrants have im- pressed us with their innovation, commitment and drive and we look forward to watching their businesses grow over the years,” he said.