A New LifeEileen Sweeney is leaving her career in social work to set up a social networking venture, writes Brian O'Connell
When Eileen Sweeney graduated from University College Cork in 2000 with a degree in social science, little did she realise that six years later she would be involved in social networking of an entirely different nature.
From a young age Sweeney's mother gave her children an interest in social causes and it came as little surprise when Sweeney announced her intended course of study.
"I was always interested in social policy and left-wing culture. My mum was heavily involved in St Vincent de Paul, and we were all brought up with a strong social conscience. I was always aware of other people less fortunate than ourselves. It's a cliché I know, but it's true."
The degree in social science gave Sweeney an academic and educational structure on which to hang her social conscience. Her time at university was as much about personal development as it was professional, and she looks back with fond recollections.
"The degree certainly lived up to expectations. I loved leaving Dublin and going away to college. It was an amazing experience living out of home and moving to a place where I didn't know anyone. I was dropped in at the deep end in that sense," she says.
After college Sweeney took a job in a Dublin call centre as a stopgap measure while she assessed which area of social work she felt most drawn towards.
During this time she also began volunteering for a Junior Achievement Programme in schools, a move that would eventually lead her into her chosen profession.
"I was working in this call centre for about two years, and during this time I had volunteered for a Junior Achievement Programme in my spare time - to basically teach a structured programme on enterprise and staying in school to children."
"Once a week for five weeks I went into schools. I loved the experience and also the whole ethos behind the Junior Achievement Programme. I got on well and they asked me to come in for interview, after which I became a co-ordinator in 2003," she says.
Over the next few years Sweeney worked as junior achievement co-ordinator for south Co Dublin. The mainstay of the work involved visiting businesses to recruit volunteers who in turn entered schools and spoke to pupils, mostly in disadvantaged areas, on the benefits of education.
"Because we were privately funded, I also liaised with the business community to ensure money kept coming in.
"The aim of the programme was to build a bridge between workplace and school and to address the early school-leaving rate within Ireland.
"I was out on the road meeting different people and holding training days with groups of volunteers. There was no typical day. It involved a hugely busy workload which created a high standard of work ethic for me."
With a career in social education mapped out for her, Sweeney began to feel restless and decided in 2005 to take a year out to travel to Australia.
On her return, her family had moved to Galway, so she too followed suit and quickly found a job which married her academic and professional experience.
"I kind of fell into working on the Fás "skills for work" programme that addressed literacy and numerical issues in the workplace. It basically involved helping people back into the education system and the lifelong learning cycle.
"I was regional co-ordinator for the west of Ireland. The work involved communicating with company management and getting them to agree to allow workers to involve themselves in lifelong learning. I was able to take a lot from my previous experience."
The move from Dublin to Galway meant that Sweeney often found it difficult to meet new friends.
While professionally she was on track, socially she felt that she needed ways to bring new people into her life.
As with all good business ideas, a casual conversation with her sister led Sweeney down a totally different career path, as managing director of her own company and in the process it signalled the end of her social work.
"It was a typical kitchen table conversation with my sister. I had moved to Galway and all friends and social outlets were in Dublin. I'd be out at running clubs and different things in Galway but I found it very difficult to meet groups of friends.
"I remember saying it would be great if something was set up where you could go out in a group and have a good laugh," she says.
Last summer Sweeney and her sister Catherine decided to convert their casual conversation into a feasible business prospect.
They began looking at companies in the US and Australia which organised social evenings for groups of people.
"We began to find lots of organisations abroad, but none in Ireland, which provided a dinner-party focus in a relaxed setting.
"So basically we came up with a simple way for people to meet. We named it Dine to Meet and the idea is that single people can meet in a dinner-party environment in award-winning restaurants."
In July last year both sisters began putting a business plan together and got help in the setting up of the business from friends and family.
Sweeney continued to work with Fás, often finding herself working evenings and weekends to get her business idea off the ground.
"One friend designed our logo and a package to go with it, then another friend designed our website, and so on. We were putting the format together, working every weekend and after work every night."
Though the hours were long, the feedback Sweeney got was positive and kept her spirits up.
"We were encouraged early on by the fact that whenever we mentioned the idea everyone commented on what a great idea it was."
The website went live last month and in the first week alone it received more than 350 individual hits. Requests have been pouring in and Sweeney recently took the plunge and handed in her notice to Fás and decided to concentrate all her energies on her new venture.
"As soon as we saw the response and how much demand there was from other counties, I said okay if we want to give this a proper shot, I'll have to do it full time.
"So I'm just finishing up with Fás at the moment. Much of the work is website-based, checking to see who is logged on, organising tables and keeping in contact with restaurants. Basically people pay online to confirm a place at a table. The cost is €75.
"At the moment I take a pittance out of the company in terms of wages, but as we grow and go to Dublin and Cork and get co-ordinators in each of those areas, hopefully it will improve.
"We have already had some successes with people meeting up with each other again, having initially met through our service. That's all we're looking for really.
"In terms of our input, the biggest shock has been the hours I am putting in. You never really clock off. Last Friday night for instance I was sending my sister a work email at midnight," she says.
It has been a steep learning curve, but so far so good, and Sweeney says she is up to the challenges of launching a new company. She admits, though, that leaving the security of paid employment is still a daunting prospect, yet she is optimistic about the future.
"The most important thing I have learned so far is the importance of marketing and in turn how much it costs.
"When we have a good review or a mention on the radio for instance I really notice the knock-on effect, which is great," she explains.
"It is a worry leaving my job, but I think I've come to what's called the diving-board moment. The question for me was do I stay on or jump off? I have do it at some stage so this is me jumping."
For more information see www.dinetomeet.ie