A very enterprising woman

THE latest addition to RTE's Bank of Ireland sponsored Dragon's Denseries is Harmonia Publishing managing director Norah Casey. The publisher of magazines such as Irish Tatlerand Ireland of the Welcomesis a passionate supporter of women in enterprise. "I spend a lot of time talking to businesswomen through the Enterprise Network for Women and I support them with free ads in Irish Tatler," she says.

“We have a great tradition of women in business in Ireland but it has mainly been in part-time enterprise such as crafts and so on. I think a lot of this was because women with families were limited to part-time work and if there were no such jobs available they went and started their own small businesses, usually in the service area. Where they have struggled is in getting to the next level, moving up to becoming an employer and a SME.”

She believes that the mainly male culture of business over the years was a factor in this but that this is changing. “We are now seeing women coming through at a much higher level in business than before,” she says. “We are now seeing a lot of very good women working at very senior levels in Ireland. But we still have a long way to go in politics. We are still at the same level as sub-Saharan Africa when it comes to women’s representation in politics and there is no reason why there shouldn’t be lots of women at the very top in politics.”

She bases her view on the changes in the business environment not just on anecdotal evidence but on hard research. "We recently decided to run an issue of Irish Tatleron the top women of influence in Ireland – these were to be women at the top of their chosen fields be that science and technology, education, business, politics or whatever. I was told that I would be lucky to get 100 – we had to call a halt at 426 because we had run out space.

“This shows how much things have changed here,” she says. “Ten years ago, you really would have struggled to find women of genuine influence in business. The only worry that I would have now is that with the salaries being squeezed and companies downsizing, you might see women being pushed out a bit. But I am more confident that enterprise will continue to grow and thrive. When you have a climate that’s difficult, people have to think on their feet, and we will find more entrepreneurial ideas coming from women now.”

She believes the current climate is a good one for young women.

“As soon as we move from the mindset that there will always be employment to one where we can’t get jobs and we will have to make them for ourselves, we will see lots of enterprising young women come to the fore,” she says. “I don’t believe women and men are any better or worse than each other when it comes to business and entrepreneurship. If you have the drive and the work ethic, you’ll make it. Yes, they are different and they can complement each other and it is certainly good to have a balance of men and women on a team, but in the end, they each have the same potential to do well in business.”

She is optimistic for the future prospects of Irish enterprise and the economy generally. “I’m very bullish about the future. Enterprise will thrive because it has to. But as a businessperson myself, I wish we had more positive ambassadors out there speaking for us. The people doing it at the moment look so tired. These people were titans, they were the giants of the Celtic Tiger and now they just seem to be exhausted by the horror of what’s happening. I’m not without sympathy for them, but we need to change the programme.

“We have people who have been working through the past two years and they need encouragement and confidence. Business is about confidence and if we say we are in ruins all the time, we are never going to get out of the current situation. We need to change this and become more positive. That’s why I think the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Week is such a good idea, because it is focusing on the positive things that are happening out there and it is aimed at helping and encouraging SMEs.”