Eventmaster - who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Limerick - were winners of the Mid-West Regional award at this year’s National Enterprise Awards. The awards, which took place at the Round Room in the Mansion House in Dublin, were in their 26th year and run annually by the Local Enterprise Offices.
Eventmaster booked their ticket to the national awards after being named as Entrepreneur of the Year 2026 in the Limerick Final in March.
Eventmaster was founded by John Cleary who created a ticketing and back end booking platform which is used by a significant number of organisations around the country. Their comprehensive platform integrates ticketing, fundraising, and membership management into a single, scalable system. Designed to tackle longstanding issues within the events and charity sector - including fragmented systems, limited data visibility, and missed fundraising opportunities - the platform enables organisations to manage events and engage participants more effectively.
Mike Cantwell, Head of Enterprise at the Local Enterprise Office Limerick stated:
“On behalf of Local Enterprise Office Limerick team, I would like to extend my congratulations to John Cleary and the entire Eventmaster team on their outstanding success at the National Enterprise Awards Final. To be recognised on a national stage and to take home the Mid-West Regional Award is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the ambition, innovation and dedication that defines the company. Eventmaster continues to be an excellent example of the strength and potential of enterprise across Limerick and the wider region. We look forward to supporting their continued growth and success.”
The overall winner at the National Enterprise Awards was Sugar Plum Sweetery who are supported by Local Enterprise Office Westmeath. The self styled “Irish Willy Wonka” business set up by Denise Buckley and David Quirke established the destination sweet and chocolate store in 2022 but it’s been their ability to monetise trends that saw them increase revenue from 2024 to 2025 by 815%.
Announcing the award winners at the Mansion House, Peter Burke, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment said:
“The National Enterprise Awards are the highlight of the small business and enterprise calendar, with a growing diversity of businesses and an increasingly high standard among the companies progressing through the process year on year. We have some exceptional winners, but the finalists overall have been outstanding, reflecting the remarkable quality of small businesses right across the country."
Previous winners of the National Enterprise Awards include Irish Yoghurts (1998), Obelisk (2000), Simtech Aviation (2008), Digiweb (2004) and Design Pro (2013), Terra NutriTech (2018), Pestle & Mortar (2019), Bevcraft (2021), Aqualicence in 2022, Advanced Cosmetics in 2023 and DreamDev Technologies in 2024.
The National Enterprise Awards are one of a number of initiatives that the Local Enterprise Offices run, to foster entrepreneurship across the country. Others include Local Enterprise Week, the Student Enterprise Programme, National Women’s Enterprise Day and Local Enterprise Showcase. The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland.
Established in 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices are the essential resource for any entrepreneur looking to start a business or any small business that is looking for support or advice to help them grow. Since their inception eight years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 80,000 jobs across the country. The LEOs work with thousands of client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice and financial supports to small businesses.
For more information see www.LocalEnterprise.ie
Photo from left to right: Kieran Comerford Chair of LEO Network, Peter Burke TD Minster for Enterprise Tourism & Employment, John Claeary Eventmaster, Mike Cantwell Head of Enterprise LEO Limerick, Louise Millar Eventmaster and Claire O’Sullivan Eventmaster.
