A Leitrim woman has been elected as the new chair of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprise association
Margaret O'Rourke Doherty, who is also the CEO of the Hair and Beauty Industry Confederation, will serve in the role for a two-year term and is the 17th Chair of ISME and the second female Chair.
Notably, the new Council elected today is the first with a female majority since ISME's foundation in 1993 and is comprised of 56% female and 44% male members.
She said "Today also marks a significant day for ISME, as for the first time ever the National Council has a female majority, with fifteen women on the Council out of twenty-seven members. Female entrepreneurs and business owners are not often given due credit for the high number of businesses they run in the SME sector. Our new Council also reflects sectoral diversity, including service businesses, manufacturing, food, retail and technology."
Meet our new Chair, Margaret O'Rourke Doherty and National Council appointed today, details on https://t.co/pc81l6AAS7 pic.twitter.com/gtjBRu9QA4
— ISME (@isme_ie) May 25, 2021
She added: "I am also pleased to welcome onto the National Council the heads of other trade groups in the childcare, retail, and artisan food and distillery sectors. Together, building on the achievements of our previous National Councils, we will cement ISME as the independent voice of small enterprise in the Irish economy."
With over 10,500 members nationwide, ISME's new Council members are elected owner/managers of SMEs from all over Ireland and from a variety of sectors. 46% of members are based in Dublin, with 19% in the Midlands, 11% in both the North East and South East, 7% in both the North West and South West and 4% in the South of Ireland.
