Continuing my article about the Best Events in Diversity and Inclusion in Ireland, this article has some of the biggest events in Ireland, such as The Pendulum Summit, The National Start-up Awards and Gifted The Contemporary Craft and Design Fair, together with up and coming events such as Start-up Network Europe, Tech For Good and Techstars Weekend, to name a few:
Organised by The Irish Centre For Diversity the awards ceremony is a chance for those that are working hard in the industry to drive Diversity and Inclusion for their organisation to be recognised for their achievements. The Judges include Margot Slattery, Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion, ISS, Mamobo Ogoro, Founder and CEO, GORM, and Siobhan SweeneySenior Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging, Element Materials Technology
etc. Sponsors include AIB, Publicjobs.ie and CLP to name a few and the categories include Diversity & Inclusion / Emerging Leader Award, Company of the Year Award, Outstanding Diversity Initiative Award, etc.
The National Startup awards shines a light on the best and brightest early stage companies in Ireland. We do this by providing a highly regarded national platform where the Startups can gain national and international recognition.
Now in its 11th year the National Startup Awards is regarded and respected as THE platform for identifying the best emerging talent.
- Together with our partners we have significant reach and reputation within the Startup community and beyond.
- We activate on a national basis ensuring the awards are inclusive across a broad cross section of Startup companies.
- We advertise nationally and receive lots of great PR due to the positive nature of the awards – regionally & nationally.
- We also encourage early stage companies to enter ensuring they are introduced to our sponsor partners at this critical early stage when they need support and encouragement the most.
- We celebrate success and ambition amongst the Startup community.
Most recent start-ups in Diversity and Inclusion to be shortlisted or win awards in the National Start-Up Awards that focusondiversity.ie have previously interviewed include Finedeeds, HerSport, Refunk and Mentor Her.
Taking place in the Leopardstown Pavilion, Leopardstown Racecourse, this years event focused on the government’s Climate Action Plan identifies how Ireland will achieve its 2030 targets for carbon emissions, and puts the country on a trajectory to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Adopting the same model as the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs, it sets out over 180 actions, together with hundreds of sub-actions that need to be taken.
With key areas being Energy Efficiency, Re Enable Energy, Sustainable Packaging, Waste & Recycling, Water, Circular Economy, ESG, Sustainable Buildings, Sustainable, Transport, Environmental Protection and Biodiversity
Speakers included
- Stephen Prendivelle Head of Sustainability for EY Ireland
- Dharel Patel Head of Environment and Sustainability for the National Express
- Sara Simmons CEO and Chief Mentor for the Conscious Innovator
More than 50 exhibitors heard from three different speaker stage around themes such as Renewable Energy and Waste and Resource Management
With its topics being so important it sure to be back in 2024
“Network Ireland is a non-profit, voluntary organisation, with over 1,000 members and seventeen very dynamic branches. Established in 1983, this is a progressive, dynamic organisation supporting the professional and personal development of women.Our membership is made up of a diverse group of women, from budding entrepreneurs, SME owners, professionals and leaders in indigenous and multinational organisations to non profits, charities, arts and the public sector. We have a strong voice and are interested in promoting diversity and equality, entrepreneurship and leadership development; collaborating with like-minded people and organisations.
”The organisation organises events, mentoring, awards, networking and development for their members. Events include award ceremonies to monthly Zoom meet-ups to reduce isolation and increase the support their members feel.
The Pendulum Summit “mission is to transform the lives of our delegates, their organisations, and their communities, ultimately creating a ripple effect that drives the change the world needs”. Taking place in The RDS every year the summit over 8,000 attendees, from more than 50 countries and over 100 speakers since its inception. Their incredibly impressive list of speakers in previous years include the likes of SIr Richard Branson, Lord Sugar, Steve Wasniak and Samantha Power to name a few.
However, the summit organisers emphasised their commitment to Diversity and Inclusion with speakers such as Nick Vujicic a New York Time best selling author who was born with total amelia (born with no arms or legs), Stephen Cluskey an Irish entrepreneur who advocates for people in wheelchairs, Joe Schmidt who advocate for people with Epilepsy or Colin Farrell who advocates for The Special Olympics.
The Pride Festival takes place in the first week of June which is known as Pride Month. What started in 1974 as a young group of Trinity College students protesting at homosexuality has now morphed into the second largest festival in Ireland (behind St Patrick’s Day).
During Pride Month and beyond Pride Ireland there are a range of events from parades throughout the country, to events for workplaces to celebrate their employees and to marches showing solidarity with trans people or other marginalised communities in the LGTBQA+. There are also comed, poetry and musical evenings designed to entertain, inform and highlight the impact the LGBTQ+ community has had on Ireland.
Established in 1995, Retail Excellence is owned by the Members, for the Members and is the largest retail industry trade body in Ireland. Our aim is to enhance the consumer’s retail experience by developing top-class retail standards and skills and promoting a vibrant and competitive world-class retail industry in Ireland. Ireland’s largest Retail body: More than 2,000 Members, 13,000 stores. The Voice of Irish Retail. Over the past 25 years, the Retail Excellence Awards have been a beacon of recognition for outstanding achievements in the retail sector. Join us as we celebrate the legacy of 25 years of Retail Excellence!
An annual, community driven, not-for-profit conference about Software Delivery held in ook at topics such as risk, unknowns, observability, AI, security, leading through uncertain times and more. Our speakers will share stories and practical examples of how they continue to deliver delightful experiences to customers during turbulent times.
An annual, community driven, not-for-profit conference about Software Delivery held in ook at topics such as risk, unknowns, observability, AI, security, leading through uncertain times and more. Our speakers will share stories and practical examples of how they continue to deliver delightful experiences to customers during turbulent times.
Some of the speakers include
- Dr Norah Patten – Award Winning STEM Advocate & Author | Aero Engineer | Bioastronautics Researcher | Collaborator
- Clare Dillon – Co-founder, Open Ireland Network; Foundation Member, InnerSource Commons – Mihai Criveti Principal Architect for Platform Engineering and Technology Solutions at IBM
Each year the team chooses a charity to partner with such as Pieta House, Teen Turn and A Lust For Life.
With more than 380 exhibitors at the show across Fashion, Jewellery and Home & Gift, the three day trade fair expects to welcome more than 4,000 registered trade buyers from Ireland and overseas. At the time of writing, a significant number of trade buyers had already attended from across Ireland, the UK, Europe, Japan and the UAE.
Exhibitors have already reported a strong first day of trading. Upwards of €20 million in business is expected to be transacted during the three-day event.
The event, which is hosted by Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) and supported by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment; Enterprise Ireland; Local Enterprise Office and the RDS, acts as a platform for Irish makers to highlight their work to a national and international network of buyers.
In later years Showcase has become even more important for Ireland’s micro enterprises and new start-ups with 105 businesses supported at the fair by Ireland’s network of Local Enterprise Offices.
Created by Samantha Kelly Social Media Fest 2025, taking place on April 9th at the Maldron Hotel near Dublin Airport, is set to be a must-attend event for marketers, entrepreneurs, and content creators looking to elevate their social media strategies.
Running from 9 AM to 5 PM, the event will feature expert-led sessions covering key topics such as creating high-converting lead magnets, mastering podcasting, and optimizing content for SEO.
Attendees will also gain actionable insights on how to effectively turn social media followers into loyal clients and how to repurpose video content to maximize reach and engagement. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting out, this event offers valuable tools and strategies to boost your online presence.
In addition to its engaging lineup of presentations and workshops, Social Media Fest 2025 is committed to inclusivity and accessibility. Subtitles will be available throughout the event for those who need them, ensuring that all attendees can fully participate in the learning experience. With its focus on practical advice and networking opportunities, this festival is an ideal opportunity for professionals to stay ahead of the curve in the ever-evolving world of social media marketing.
The annual event features all that is good in social entrepreneurs in Ireland. In 2022 12 of Ireland’s most successful social entrepreneurs spoke to the guests at the gathering about their journeys and inspired them to take their own journeys on their enterprises. Guests included CEO of GIY Michael Kelly, Founder of Grow Remote Tracey Keogh and Founder of Property Marking Ireland James O’Neill to name a few.
Other events the organisation holds include The Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Awards, where they award the most deserving social entrepreneurs in Ireland, or The Ideas Academy, which brings together budding social entrepreneurs who have an idea on how to make their communities better.
Startup Network Europe produces events for Europe’s startup ecosystems.
Starting in 2019, our events include national Conferences, city-level community meetups, as well as webinars and knowledge-sharing expert sessions.
SNE Conferences attract thousands of founders and investors from all across Europe. Through our events and our robust online communities, we facilitate startup ecosystem stakeholders to connect with each other, and create exciting new opportunities for all parties involved.
The Irish Startup Conference 2023 will gather 450 Startup Founders, CXOs, Investors, and more from across Ireland. It’s free to attend.
A one day event that takes place in Galway on the 28th of September in 2023 will hear from “Keynotes from over 20 national and international expert speakers will be given on talent attraction, retention, leadership, mentorship, culture and the future of HR. We are delighted to have international contributors from organisations such as Airbnb, Uber, Bank of America, Patagonia, Globalization Partners, Aon, NASA and many more.
Some of the notable speakers include:
- Evelyn Doyle, Head of People & Culture at Patagoni,
- Dr. Debbie A. Augustin Deputy Director of Human Resources at NASA
- Claude Silver, Chief Heart Officer at VaynerMedia”
Tangent or other similar third level incubators
Trinity College Dublin, the University of Dublin has established Tangent, Trinity’s Ideas Workspace. This new space, housed in a world-class facility, co-located within an expanded School of Business, offers students, staff, and the wider innovation ecosystem a place to come together to collaborate, build and innovate.
They hold more than a hundred events a year, whether it’s lunchtime learnings, hearing from current or past students of their programmes or simply holding events around culture night.
You can view a complete list of college programmes for every college in Ireland here (the information was collated in 2016, so some information may be out of date)
When I interviewed the founders of Tech For Good Ellen Ward and Máirín Murray for focusondiversity.ie, they said “Tech for Good Dublin was launched in 2017 as a way to bring people together and explore the possibilities of tech for social impact. Since launching they have gone from strength to strength, holding networking events, highlighting projects with purpose and creating training and hackathon events. A recent event led to the development of online tools to help Ukrainian refugees settling in Ireland. IInclusion and Diversity was something we both wanted built in from the start so we made sure to have 50% women speakers, and to encourage a wide variety of people to join. We chose topics what would appeal to different people, and asked for feedback from everyone.
Our speaker events have covered a wide range of topics including how Tech has been used to connect people during the pandemic, as well as examples of tech being used to tackle Domestic Violence and Abuse, Alzheimers, the Homeless crisis, Saving Bees, Irish Sign Language, Neurodiversity and Virtual Reality to support mental health. We have learnt from experts in Robots and AI, 3D printing and Coding for kids.
We were thrilled to be shortlisted for the Innovation for Change Award at the Irish Red Cross Humanitarian Awards in 2018”
We encourage and support women in Ireland to run for politics by providing training and mentoring support while also advocating for systemic change. We are striving for a balanced representation of a diversity of women and men in Irish politics. We believe that women from a diversity of backgrounds – right across society in Ireland – have the right to participate fully in the government of their country. Through extensive collaboration we are leading a process in Ireland to ensure that all women can fulfil this right through our advocacy, training and capacity building.
There events include:
- National Conference in Cork City to champion solutions to make politics more accessible, inclusive, safe and equal for women across Ireland.
- Power and Perseverance Workshops
- Women Belong: Training Session
- More Traveller Women for Election
The one day event which takes place in Croke Park every year aims to Embrace equity to inspire the future of women in stem. Attendees will hear from the likes of Sonya Lennon, Speaker, Writer, Thought leader & Social entrepreneur, Dr. Katriona O’Sullivan, Digital Skills Lecturer, Maynooth University or Captain Jane O’Neill Engineer Corps, Irish Defence Forces etc. There will be panel discussions on the likes of Preparing learners for the future, Delivering the ambitions or Fostering a new pipeline of female STEM talent.
Organised by Leyla Karaha and her team Techstars Startup Weekend Dublin is the Dublin chapter of the global movement. The weekend consists of a “three-day program where aspiring entrepreneurs can experience startup life. In hundreds of cities around the world. Learn what it really takes to innovate, disrupt, and start a company from people who’ve been there. Startup Weekend features deep experiential learning guided by an experienced hand. Knowing you’re not alone can make all the difference.
Startup Weekend provides participants with many opportunities to engage and connect with like-minded individuals — and truly start something amazing. Sometimes you really need more skills and knowledge to go to the next level. Startup Weekend also goes deep on specific topics or skill sets. Just what you need to progress quickly.”
Leyla Karaha created YourY Network having experienced some of the isolation founders feel when creating their business. her first networking event for social entrepreneurs at the Startup Week Dublin in October 2019. Over 120 signed up for the event and almost 80 people attended the networking event. The organisation has gone on to create 18 events online during Covid-19 , some in person since and a hybrid event since and she had nearly 1,000 attendees.
The website states “one of YourY Network’s aims is to help raise public awareness of social entrepreneurship. We highlight and celebrate the work of amazing social entrepreneurs from all over the world. We connect like-minded people from different parts of the world. Diversity, inclusion, and equality are our core values, we celebrate these in each of our events. We hope to be the biggest global community of social entrepreneurs and changemakers”.
The 30% Club is a global campaign supported by Board Chairs and CEOs of medium and large organisations, committed to achieving better gender balance at leadership levels and throughout their organisation, for better business outcomes. Established in 2015, the Irish chapter is supported by more than 300 leading Irish businesses and organisations across all business sectors, representing more than 650,000 employees.
Across the year the 30% Club operates a number of events, including four quarterly events for supporter representatives – typically on business-related topics viewed through a diversity lens.
Recent topics have included gender-based marketing, AI in the workplace, building gender balance in the supply chain, and the importance of sponsorship for senior development. In addition, the six industry groups within the 30% Club regularly operate virtual masterclasses on key personal development topics, which are made available to a wider audience, again across 30% Club supporter organisations. The 30% Club is a voluntary organisation with no membership fees, and there is no attendance fee for any of the events, which are donated through our supporter network.