 
Winners of Irish Software Association awards announced Peter McManamon honoured with prestigious Technology Person of the Year Award November 7, 2008 - Ireland.– The Irish Software Association (ISA) celebrated its 30th Anniversary last night at its annual awards ceremony at the Mansion House, Dublin, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland and William Fry Solicitors. The association honoured the most successful Irish software companies of the last year at the ceremony attended by over 400 people. The winners of each category were: Software Skillnet also presented a student medal to Conor Gaffney of Trinity College for the most commercially viable piece of research. Speaking at the ceremony, ISA Director Shane Dempsey said: "The companies celebrated tonight demonstrates the ability of Irish companies to achieve global success. Indigenous software companies will increasingly play a greater role in driving the Irish economy. Over the last thirty years, the ISA has facilitated software companies in achieving their global ambitions. We now believe that the serial entrepreneurs, those people who have built a number of businesses, are the key to real economic growth in the sector. In the coming year we will be working closely to harness their experience to grow companies of international scale." The ISA also honoured Peter McManamon, who has been involved in the sector for over 25 years, with the prestigious Technology Person of the Year Award. Mr McManamon has been a champion for software SMEs, lobbying extensively for the removal of restrictive procurement practices in the public sector, increases in the Business Expansion and Seed Capital schemes and changes to the education system to address the uptake of honours maths by pupils. Students Adam Keilthy and Conor Scully, from SuttonPark Secondary School, Dublin, were awarded for their research project, which that makes websites colour-blind accessible. The students have won the technology category in the Irish BT Young Scientist Competition and came first in the overall Northern Irish BT Young Scientist competition. The two will now go on to the overall UK BT Young Scientist competition. The 18 Chairmen who ran the ISA over the last 30 years were also honoured at the ceremony. About the Irish Software Association. - The ISA, which has represented the interests of software and IT services companies in Ireland since 1978, is the leading voice of software technology and Service in Ireland. They promote the interests of the software and IT services industry and provide member companies with access to a number of key stakeholders and services. The ISA assists software companies to start, manage and grow their companies with a view to enabling members to become successful internationally. — ENDS — |