Time for women in Donegal to take the lead

To mark the Democrat's 100th anniversary, well known hotelier Deirdre McGlone was invited to guest edit the paper this week and here she offers her views on the need to see more women in management positions:

Since we made the decision to sell Harvey's Point Hotel some people have asked me how retirement is going - not being funny - but I have never been busier than I am at the moment and the range of invitations is heartening and most welcome.
However, not to over egg it too much, since the sale, we have had some great time to get away from the daily routine of running the business. I miss it, I miss the buzz, the people, I'm conscious of the fact I still spend a fair bit of time in the hotel, but day by day I'm starting to 'detox' from a life that was full on for the past 30 years.

So, against that background, the invitation from the Donegal Democrat to guest edit this week's paper as part of their 100th anniversary celebrations, was as unexpected as it was welcome.
What really appealed to me was the chance to put a focus on some of the issues and projects I have a personal interest in.
Among these are: the role of women in the workplace and how more women can be encouraged to become business leaders; the need to connect with the Donegal Disapora all across the world for the benefit of Donegal; and finally and broadly, my thoughts on what we need to do to push and promote tourism here in Donegal and how we can attract more visitors to this county and the north west in general.

WOMEN IN BUSINESS
Ten years ago I was approached to join a group called Going for Growth which is for women who are already in business but who want to do more, to be more strategic and to aspire for better performances/returns from their business.
From that I was asked to be a lead entrepreneur with Acorns, to give something back, which I love doing. I am helping female entrepreneurs at the early stage of their development, and I cover Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal.
I am the lead facilitator, and we meet every month. The programme is funded by the Department of Agriculture. We meet to look at people's businesses, see where they are at, where they want to go/develop and where there might be issues with what they are planning to do or are doing.
Women have different businesses in the group I am involved in at the moment, but they have similar challenges, the work-life balance, working from the kitchen table in their homes, accessing finance, having confidence to have a go, trying to overcome barriers that are out there that would prevent them from starting up and growing. I don’t have all the answers, but my job is to get everybody on one page to see what they can do, to organise that, we would develop a six month plan to establish what their goals are and we would have a plan to execute that and make it happen.
Seventeen years ago when my husband Marc decided to move out of the kitchen in Harvey’s Point it gave me the opportunity and support to do what I wanted to do.
I didn’t know about women in business at that time, my instinct after our children were born was to go back to work. Marc decided to come out of the kitchen and he started his own work from home in relation to IT and online.
If there are women out there with a plan, an idea that might turn into a business, I will point you in the right direction, so get in touch, if I can help I surely will.