BUILTINCORK: The May Edition

Built in Cork returns Wednesday 16th of May from 6:30pm in Republic Of Work.

Built In Cork is a community of entrepreneurs, founders and business owners. Each month we host a fireside chat with “Expert” panels from small business leaders to industry forerunners. Each event is a great networking opportunity and also a chance to get to hear from successful entrepreneurs.

Led by DC Cahalane, CEO Republic Of Work and Founder of Built In Cork, this month we welcome Gillian Keating (partner in the Corporate and Commercial Department in Ronan Daly Jermyn), Conor Lyden (Founder and CEO of Trustap) and Gary O’ Hanlon (Culinary Director at BaxterStorey). Sharing their wealth of experience, as well as their individual and unique journeys to home grown success in very different industries.

Gillian Keating

Gillian is a partner in Ronan Daly Jermyn spcialising in Corporate and Commercial Department and leads the firm's Life Sciences and Technology Groups. She advises multinational, indigenous and financial service businesses on corporate and commercial law and also regularly gives talks to start up businesses involved in incubator or accelerator programs on these topics.

Gillian is an extremely active member of the Cork Business Community; she served as the Cork Chamber President from 2013 to 2015, is a board member on Cork Education and Training, UCC’s Governing Body, and Fota Wildlife Park, as well as that she is an Adjunct Professor in University College Cork’s Business and Law Department.

In response to the shortage of females working within STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) Gillian co-founded the award winning IWISH (Inspiring Women In STEM) foundation. This is a social enterprise dedicated to fostering, encouraging and promoting the opportunities that STEM education has for women and attempts to highlight the drastic decline in females entering these sectors in the hopes of changing it.

Gillian has been listed on Legal 500 recommended list of top ranking advisors and was recognised in the Lawyer Monthly 2016 and 2017 Women Awards for her Corporate Legal Work. In addition to her fruitful and successful career Gillian also co-wrote “Brexit - The Road Travelled, the Path Ahead and the Bandit in the Bush”, Brexit Insight, 30 May 2017 to aid the understanding of the impact Brexit will have on businesses.

Conor Lyden

Conor is the founder and CEO of Trustap, a transaction platform that allows for buying and selling online without the fear of being let down or scammed. Based within Republic of Work we have seen the progression of Conor’s business, from a Bank of Ireland scholarship desk to becoming a member of ROWCork.

After completing his engineering degree in University College Cork, Conor joined the UCC run incubation program, IGNITE for 12 months to further develop and hone his idea. Conor also recently topped the best start-up category at the Cork and Waterford regional finals for the Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) competition, and later attended the national finals.

This year Conor secured a coveted spot in the Texas based Capital Factory’s accelerator programme, Touchdown Austin. He has partnered with Mastercard, Stripe, American Express as well as delivery services UPS and FedEx to integrate all parties involved with online purchases to allow parties to sell and buy safely.  

Gary O' Hanlon 

Gary O’ Hanlon is an Award- Winning Chef, Broadcaster and Columnist hailing from Donegal and is currently the Culinary Director at BaxterStorey. Gary made his name in the culinary industry while working in Devlin’s Restaurant and Bar in Boston, Massachusetts, it was here he developed his modern and individual style of cooking.

In August 2008, he was made Head Chef at Viewpoint House, Longford, which was named “Best Restaurant in Ireland” by Georgina Campbell (Ireland’s leading independent hospitality guide). Gary won may accolades while with Viewpoint House including Food & Wine Maazine's "Best Chef Leinster 2016", "RAI Best Chef Leinster 2010, 2017 and "Country House of the Year Award 2017". 

Gary can also be seen regularly on RTE’s The Today Show, on TV3’s The Six O'Clock Show, The Restaurant, Head Chef and Masterchef, he also contributes to Newstalk’s Lunchtime Live. His weekly recipe column can be seen in The Irish Times Magazine. In 2018 Gary won the Georgina Campbell Hospitality Award for Services in Irish Food.    

Built In Cork is a monthly event that gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to meet other like minded people in business, industry leaders and innovators. Sharing stories, the good and the bad of business. This is a supportive community ambitious about business in Cork and a great networking opportunity where you can meet some key players on the scene.

Let’s enjoy some nibbles, have a few BrewDog beers and talk business!