Highland Radio Business Matters

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell talks to the co-owner of Evolve Clothing, Mark McCloskey, who opened Evolve at Letterkenny Retail Park with his brother, JP, in 2008. They relocated to a larger unit and the current store is over 9,000 square feet. Evolve has shipped goods to 70 different countries in 2022 and […] The post Business Matters Ep 122 – Mark McCl...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell’s guest is award-winning knitwear designer, Edel MacBride. She sold her first item at an arts and crafts fair at the age of 12, and went on to study fashion design at Limerick Technical College in 1984. Edel won the Late Late Show Designer of the Year Award in 1995 […] The post Business Matters Ep 121 – Edel MacBride a...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell speaks to the owner of Batch Coffee House Bar and Kitchen in Falcarragh, Ciaran McGarvey. After graduating with a BA in Economics at DCU, Ciaran worked in Lifestyle Sports in Dublin for two years before returning to Donegal to take up the role of food and beverage manager […] The post Business Matters Ep 120 – Ciaran McGarve...

Ciaran O’Donnell’s guest on this week’s Business Matters is the CEO of Donegal Local Development Company, Padraic Fingleton. DLDC, which was established in 1995, provides a wide range of support to individuals, communities and voluntary groups across Donegal. DLDC’s 80 staff are currently working on 13 programmes. Earlier this month, its three-year strategic plan was [&#823...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell speaks to motivational speaker and owner of The Motivation Factory, Nikki Bradley. Nikki was diagnosed with Ewing’s Sarcoma, a rare and often deadly form of bone cancer, when she was 16, and that diagnosis had a huge influence on the path her life would take. She set up […] The post Business Matters Ep 118 – Nikki Bradley ap...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by the owner of Doherty’s Butchers in Letterkenny, Stephen Shiels. Stephen has been a butcher for 37 years, having started his trade with the late Paddy Kelly on Letterkenny’s Upper Main Street next to Dillon’s Supermarket. When Paddy retired nine years later, Stephen moved to Doherty’s […] The po...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Letterkenny estate agent and owner of The Quiet Moment Tea Rooms, Brendan McGlynn. Brendan has been an estate agent in Letterkenny for 30 years. After working in Kelly’s Mills, he moved to New Ireland Insurance and four years later he set up his own life […] The post Business Matters Ep 116 – Brendan McGly...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Meabh Conaghan, Regional Director with Enterprise Ireland for the West and North West. Meabh worked in the family-owned business, McFadden’s Hotel in Gortahork, from a young age. After graduating from the University of Galway, she spent six years in London before returning home to run the […] The post Business M...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell speaks to the owners of the Allingham Arms Hotel in Bundoran, Peter and Elizabeth McIntyre, who are set to retire at the end of the month after nearly 30 years at the helm. The couple married in 1991, and two years year they began working at the hotel […] The post Business Matters Ep 114 – Peter & Elizabeth McIntyre app...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Marie Shields, Business Development Executive with Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and founder of Moss Marketing. A digital marketing professional, she set up her own company five years ago. She also has her own podcast, No Other Craic, which she established with her friend, Trish Geraghty, […] The post Business Matte...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Liam Porter, a life-long member of Raphoe FC and secretary and director of Raphoe Community Sports Development Limited which won the 2021 National Lottery Good Causes Award in the sport and recreation category. Raphoe FC, which has 14 teams, moved to its purpose-built facility at […] The post Business Matters Ep 112 – Liam...

On this week’s show, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by wellbeing coach and founder of The One Good Hour in Letterkenny, Mary Bradley. Mary has been teaching at Loreto Secondary School in Letterkenny for ten years. She began meditating in her early 20s, and earlier this year she decided to set up her own business to […] The post Business Matters Ep 111 – Mary Bradley appeared fi...

On this week’s Business Matters Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Lorcan Roarty, owner of Rose’s Bar and owner of The Wild Atlantic Camp which are both located in Creeslough. Lorcan bought the bar on his return from a spell in the US in 2004. A quantity surveyor by profession, the Creeslough native has plans to […] The post Business Matters Ep 110 – Lorcan Roarty appeared...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Joe Gibson, owner of J. Gibson Promotions and fiddle player with Sailor Bill. Joe was raised with traditional music, began playing the fiddle at the age of eight, and got £20 for his first paid gig at a cottage in Creeslough at the age of […] The post Business Matters Ep 109 – Joe Gibson appeared first on Highla...

On this week’s programme, Ciaran O’Donnell talks to the owner of Watson’s Menswear on Letterkenny’s Upper Main Street, Leonard Watson. When the menswear store in Letterkenny he’d worked in for twenty years closed in 2010, Leonard Watson wasn’t sure what to do next. After some soul-searching and receiving the necessary support from those close to […] The po...

On this week’s Business Matters, our dip into the archives takes us back to Ciaran O’Donnell’s chat with Mary Bradley, owner of the well-known Pat’s Pizza which she set up in Letterkenny with her husband, Pat, in 1984. During the interview, Mary revealed that after many months of deliberation, she had decided that Pat’s On […] The post Business Matters Ep 106 &#...

On this week’s Business Matters, we dip into the archives to feature Ciaran O’Donnell’s chat with Letterkenny photographer and owner of Cristeph Gallery, Brian McDaid. Ciaran spoke to Brian in the back office of his studio on Convent Road and this edition was first broadcast back in January. Listen back here: The post Business Matters Ep 106 – Brian McDaid – Playback...

  On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by the managing director of Rethink Money Limited, Sean McNulty. A native of Letterkenny, Sean started out as a financial advisor in 2007. Rethink Money Limited, which has been nine years in the making, is fully licensed by the Central Bank of Ireland. Sean’s mission is […] The post Business Matters Ep 105 &...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell speaks to business development manager with Bibby Financial Services, Carmel Munroe. Carmel worked with Ulster Bank in the North West for over 30 years and is enjoying her new role with Bibby which she took up back in March. Ciaran will also be talking all things business awards […] The post Business Matters Ep 104 – Carmel...

  On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by the CEO of Letterkenny Credit Union, Gordon Randles. A native of Dublin, Gordon moved to Letterkenny in 1997 and took up the lead role at Letterkenny Credit Union in 2002. Letterkenny Credit Union was established in 1962. Records show that it started with 24 members, […] The post Business Matters Ep 103 –...

On this week’s podcast, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by the Director of Strategic Initiatives at TSC in Letterkenny, Gerard Grant. Gerard was one of the team of eight that was involved in establishing the Pramerica base in Letterkenny in 2000, and was tasked with setting up the company’s internal IT  system. There are over 1,000 employed […] The post Business Matters Ep 101 &...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Joe Devenney and Conor McMenamin who set up Crolly Distillery with Kieran Davis. The Letterkenny-based businessmen moved on site in 2018 and began producing the first casks of whiskey in 2020. The distillery opened the doors of its visitor centre to the public on Monday, […] The post Business Matters Ep 100 – Jo...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by Lisa Breslin, creative director and founder of Imagine Lab Design which she runs from her office in Lifford and the Digihub at The Base in Stranorlar. Having worked in the graphic and motion design sector for 20 years, Lisa set up her own business nine months […] The post Business Matters Ep 99 – Lisa Breslin &#...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell speaks to Shane Connolly, owner of Shane Connolly Cars, who has recently relocated his business to Donegal, having been based in Ballybofey since 2010. Ciaran also talks to retail apprenticeship manager with Retail Ireland Skillnet, Oran Doherty, about the latest retail apprenticeship and degree programmes that are currently […] T...

On this week’s Business Matters, Ciaran O’Donnell is joined by the owner of Speer Performance Gym and Fitness Centre in Letterkenny, Adam Speer. After leaving secondary school, Adam completed a sports science degree in Wales. He went on to study sports therapy and started practising locally while also working in local gyms. He took a […] The post Business Matters Ep 97 – Ad...