Ballin-colleagues

Michael Olney

Cork Olympian Rob Heffernan was on hand to share his wisdom at a recent Leeside business networking event which was hailed as a “great success” by its organisers.

This year’s Ballincollig Business Association (BBA) Networking at Noon event received some very positive reactions from those in attendance at the Oriel House Hotel in May.

Speaking recently about the event’s success, BBA chairwoman Emer Cassidy said world champion race walker Rob Heffernan’s “inspirational” words were a perfect fit as he paralleled the struggles he overcame in his sport with those many face in the business world.

Ms Cassidy said: “He spoke of all the knocks he got, and all the setbacks, and it was really relevant to business. A few people gave me feedback afterward and they said he had really spoken from the heart and everything he had related could be tied back to business, and everybody was just in awe of him.”

Also speaking at the event was Ballincollig Tidy Towns chairman Tom Butler who has helped lead the organisation to the final stages of this year’s Tidy Towns competition.

Ms Cassidy added: “Ballincollig Tidy Towns are just incredible, and they have done so well with winning so many gold medals over the years, and they are so close now to winning the big prize, and they are all about community and making Ballincollig a better place for everyone who lives here.

“The BBA wants to give Ballincollig Tidy Towns the opportunity to engage directly with businesses and we are going to spend the next while figuring out how we can support them and get actions going in the town.

“It’s a call to action to businesses to get involved, install floral boxes, clean up their own patch, paint their premises, make sure there are no weeds, anything we can do to help Tidy Towns for the adjudication.”