This article is from page 8 of the 2011-08-16 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
A TRAINED legal professional, who launched her own business after losing her job in an Ennis legal practice in December, is one of 50 people who have already signed up to take part in Ireland’s first Open Fair event which will take place in Ennis later this month.
The organisers of the Open Fair say that 50 of their 100 stalls have already been taken and are urging budding Clare business people to contact them as soon as possible to reserve a place.
The event, which is the brainchild of general election candidate Jim Connolly, is aimed at start-up businesses and aims to show Clare people that there is a future for new indigenous businesses in the county.
Ennis businesswoman Niamh O’Brien opened her own clothing business in Lifford earlier this year after she lost her job in a local legal firm.
“I could see that work had been fizzling out over the last two years and just before Christmas it was time for me to go. I was always very creative and artistic and that was something that I had left behind when I went to study law. I bought a dress a couple of years in a very fancy shop and I knew myself that I could have made the dress myself,” she told The Clare People .
“I bought myself a couple of books on sewing and I was away in a hack after that. I started on some alterations at the beginning, as my bread and butter, but I like to do the creative side of it so that is what I do now. I like to reuse clothes as much as I can, so I’m always ripping up shirts and making dresses out of them that sort of idea.
“It’s a struggle at the moment but I am still going and events like this Open Fair are great to help me get my name out there and show people what I can do. The idea of being able to network with people in a similar situation to me and just to get the products out there is a great benefit to me.”
The Open Fair will take place in the West County Hotel in Ennis on August 28.
The West County have offered the space for the Open Fair free of charge and also have a number of outside stalls available should the hall become full.