Armagh I Podcast

At the tender age of fifteen it was clear to Libby Clarke that sales was the route for her, however, a change of product was on the cards. In the fourth and final episode of our Female Entrepreneur series, in partnership with Tarasis Enterprises – Supporting Female Entrepreneurs – we speak to the Portadown businesswoman who explains how property was not her first dabble in sales. Growing up with a farming background, cattle was always Libby's first passion and she recalls selling her first property at fifteen. Following Libby's father's retirement, the keen saleswoman took on a role with the then branded Joyce Estate Agents in 2002. Fast forward to 2010, Joyce Clarke was born following a buy out of the business. Libby explains the process as a "seamless transaction" and tells us how some of the team are key to the success of the business. Cash flow, IT systems, long hours and mortgage changes are all part of normal working life - not to mention a farm at home which Libby manages herself.

It is not always clear what the future holds. Plans are laid down and ideas cultivated but life often has a way of reshaping those plans. This is the third episode of our four part series, in partnership with Tarasis Enterprises, Supporting Female Entrepreneurs. In 2019, Benburb-based beautician Sinead O’Donnell was hard at work laying the foundations for her own brand of self-tanning products. Then, in 2020 with the onset of the Covid Pandemic her world was suddenly upended with the untimely and tragic passing of her beloved father, Patrick Hughes. Despite her incredible heartache, Sinead was acutely aware that her dad would not have wanted her to put paid to her new venture. So, with his devotion to her in mind, she decided to dedicate her line to his memory and thus PH20 Tanning was born. Two years on, Sinead has continued to develop her line. PH20 is currently being stocked by over 5o retailers, secured by none-other than Sinead herself, and is set to launch a new and exciting product in the very near future. With her sunny disposition, radiantly positive outlook on life and her quiet grit and determination it is patently clear that this female entrepreneur has a glowing future in business ahead of her.

What do you need to start a business? Qualifications, money, a business plan? Not according to long-standing Armagh based hairstylist and salon owner, Petra Carroll. Petra's is the second episode of our four part series, in partnership with Tarasis Enterprises, Supporting Female Entrepreneurs. 'Conventional' would not be the word to describe Petra. Her route to business, whilst not perhaps a stereotypical journey, is a reassuring one. She demonstrates that the key to success is intrinsic. It’s something she believes we all hold. Petra champions those around her and places huge emphasis on the importance of the help and support she has received across her years in business. This support is something she is now keen to provide to those coming next, her team and her customer base. Through shamanic healing and ‘energy medicine’ Petra has a zest and love for life that is nothing short of infectious. She has found a balance between business and pleasure that has allowed her to see life through a new lens. Her advice to fledgling entrepreneurs, also a tad unconventional, is perhaps some of the best and most actionable advice for anyone thinking of starting out on their own.

Most people can say that they have inherited something significant from an elderly relative, but few can say they have inherited a passion. Emma Stinson, of Richhill Co. Armagh, has inherited just that from her beloved Grandfather Jackie Stinson, saddler and restorer extraordinaire. This is the first of our four part series, in partnership with Tarasis Enterprises, Supporting Female Entrepreneurs.

For all intents and purposes, Sean Cavanagh is a son of Tyrone – a former county captain, three All-Ireland medals, five All-Stars; the list of accolades goes on. So much so, he says his parents' home is like a sporting monument; his own home, you would struggle to tell he played football at all. But strangely enough, Sean says his affinity – certainly off the sporting fields – lies on the Armagh side of the River Blackwater... Listen to Sean's story in business and how he keeps growing, despite the many challenges he faces – including a fire in his Moy premises within months of going out on his own – and how he balances his life between home and work - it certainly hasn't been easy! 

In 2019 Martin Carvill was on a life support machine battling for survival against oesophageal cancer. Three years later, almost to the day, since Martin underwent surgery, he won the singles championship title in the Banbridge and District Darts League. During the previous decade the world-class dart thrower was at the top of his game - a regular on the World Darts circuit and competing well in events like the Dutch, Belgium and Czech Opens, along with winning countless tournaments and trophies around Ireland as well as in Newry, with whichever team was lucky enough to have him. One of the only people who believed he would ever play darts again – especially at the level he had done – was Martin himself. Martin has been practising Mindfulness for 20-odd years and in the last 10 of those he developed a keen interest in Buddhism. It’s an on-going long and painful road back from the cancer that ravaged his body, but there’s no better man to overcome that obstacle than Martin, as the two words that fuel his life are ‘belief’ and ‘fear’ – the former a force that he says has helped him succeed in the darts world and in his recovery, and the latter the thing that he feels holds people back from reaching their goals. For this week’s podcast, Martin talks about his journey, since his cancer diagnosis and after the miraculous surgeries that couldn’t have been done a few years earlier. He battled through the doubts both from within and from fellow darts players when he decided to give up drink in 2016… But the biggest battle was still to come. Martin explains how Mindfulness and Buddhism has helped him through the  challenges he has overcome. He tells us all about his darts career and how he and other top dart players really need sponsors to come on board for the little it costs them in relative terms.

The KBRT logo can be seen on GAA jersey’s from Crossmaglen to Kilcoo and even across the water in San Francisco. The little bird emblem is significant for Kevin Bell’s parents Collie and Eithne whose charitable organisation, The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust [KBRT] is their son’s legacy. Kevin was killed in a hit and run car accident in New York in 2013 and it took a network of family, friends and the community home and abroad to gather the funds needed to repatriate his body home to his loved ones in just three days. The extraordinary generosity of those who donated to the Bell family at such a horrific time of grief inadvertently led to Collie and Eithne establishing KBRT. The charity has brought home the bodies of over 1300 people from around the world since then. For this week’s podcast, Collie explains how it all began and how the charity evolved over the years. He talks about his son Kevin and how KBRT is not only his legacy but also cathartic in some ways for his family. On a happier note, Collie and Eithne did have a little bit of luck a few years ago and Collie tells us all about that too…      

In 2008 Therese Hughes stayed in the Ritz, had afternoon tea at the House of Commons and was invited to to Buckingham Palace where HRH  Prince Charles awarded her an MBE as a recipient in the Queen’s Honours list for her work with the Health Services in Northern Ireland. That work included a compassionate practical solution to people suffering from hair loss - often due to the side effects of chemotherapy. Sometimes it’s the little things that help when a person is seriousl ill, and sometimes, in cases like the non-life-threatening condition alopecia, the service provided by Tresses Wig and Hairpiece Boutique can also be life-changing. Therese comes from a large family of 14 children and began her hairdressing career as a young teenager when she learned her trade in Scissors hairdressers in Newry. She opened her very own salon at the tender age of nineteen and 17 years later, when a client was in need of a wig, Therese went on a mission to find one in London. With the help of an Orthodox Jew she did, and with that the seed was sown to fulfil a want deep in her soul. In 1998 Therese opened Tresses, the first wig and hairpiece boutique in the country, and the business went from strength to strength. She opened another boutique in Belfast and Therese established a relationship with the NHS, cementing that collaboration when she and a psychologist Professor Davidson in Belvoir Park Hospital set up the first dedicated  room that provided wigs and counselling services to patients suffering from hair loss, which was rolled out to hospitals all around the UK and Ireland. For this week’s podcast Therese tells Armagh I how she got where she is today and why she feels compelled to do what she does. She tells us all about that memorable weekend when she was handed her MBE by HRH Prince Charles. A story that includes a fake Chanel handbag, a secret handshake and a very famous celebrity she met on the day…

Covid lockdowns had their downsides, there’s no denying it, but for twenty-five year old Banbridge designer Ellen Mooney the solitude inspired her to be creative and do something positive. Ellen, who studied fashion design at University, dusted off her sewing machine and began creating her own brand of quirky hair scrunchies. Demand grew rapidly and before long Ellen had progressed from scrunchies to sweaters and was growing her own streetwear brand ELN. Functional, sustainable and extremely fashionable, Ellen tells us about the factors that are most important to her brand. We talk fast fashion and influencer culture as Ellen explains the societal trends that shaped her vision, for not only the clothing line, but her own approach to branding and marketing.

An average of over seven million viewers are hooked on ITV crime drama The Bay, which first aired in 2019. The show, set in the small seaside town of Morecambe in Lancaster, is on its third season, with a fourth in the works. And the man behind the critically acclaimed and hugely popular whodunnit was born and bred right here in Armagh. Daragh Carville brought the complex characters and stories to life as writer and co-creator of The Bay and while it’s probably his best-known work, the screenwriter, playwright and university lecturer has produced plenty of fine work over the years. The recipient of numerous awards from stage to screen, Daragh has more than proven that he is a true talent. His first feature film, Middletown, was nominated in nine categories at the Irish Film and Television Awards in 2007, including Best Film and Best Screenplay, with Irish actress Eva Birthistle winning Best Actress. And his second film, Cherrybomb’ starring Harry Potter’s  Rupert Grint, Love /Hate alumnus Robert Sheehan and our very own James Nesbitt, also picked up awards at the Berlin and Belfast Film Festival. The theatre is where it all started for Daragh, but whatever the platform, his works have translated successfully on radio, and stage as well as on the big and small screen. Daragh is a proud Armagh man, a place that he still calls home despite settling in Lancaster with his novelist wife Jo Baker and their two children. The family come back to Armagh regularly to visit and  it’s in Armagh where his career began. He says writing was a vocation for him, with an innate love of film, music, books, comics and art pulling him in that direction. But it was a special and inspirational English teacher in St Pat’s Armagh, who encouraged Daragh to pursue his interests. That teacher nurtured his talents, and sent him on the path that led to the career that he loves. And for this week’s podcast, Daragh tells us how it all happened and allows us a glimpse into the mind of a successful writer.