Following weeks of misreading briefs, miscalculating mark-up prices, ill-informed presentations and bucket loads of product placement, combined with a generous dollop of bitchiness and backstabbing – the winner of The Apprentice Ireland 2012 was announced last night.
With his laidback and cool as a cucumber approach to life (and even more so to business), I had an inkling from the beginning of the series that Kildare native Eugene Heary would be a strong contender to win. His plan to leave a lasting impression on Bill Cullen and his team may have initially backfired as he quoted Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Adolf Hitler and Simon Cowell as suitable referees to contact (I kid you not). He somehow managed to redeem himself during the final presentation (well just about).
Eugene’s mix of charm and confidence made him an instantly likeable character in The Apprentice house, and he quickly became the alpha male. I am still not convinced that his Auction House business will be success. It was hardly a groundbreaking or innovative idea (hello Ebay). While Eugene reckons his idea is great as “there is 90 billion in savings out there waiting to be tapped into,” I predict that Eugene will incur more bumps in the road than expected with this venture.
Although Mayo man Noel Rowland eventually pulled it out of the bag, and showed that he did indeed have a voice, it was too late to convince Bill that he was worthy of becoming his business partner. Unlike Maurice O’ Callaghan aka ‘The Dreamer,’ who conjured up the absurd idea about a football pitch sized nutritionally aware restaurant in Limerick that requires €2.1million investment, Noel only demanded half of Bill’s €200,000 prize money.
As the saying goes ‘nice guys always finish last,’ and last night Noel’s cautiousness and attempt not to offend fellow contestants was his biggest downfall. It was a pity really because he was the only entrepreneur who really knew what he was talking about, and didn’t just bluff his way through the presentation. Hopefully he will come up with some motivating product ideas to sell more than twelve of his insulation products a month (oh dear!).
Initially, I admired the neck that Donegal native Joanne Sweeney-Burke displayed. However, over time I found her to be patronising towards other contestants. She was possibly the biggest game-player in the show, and was always confident about which candidate she was ready to oust each week, and which candidate she was ready to protect. Either way, it was only a matter of time before her defensiveness raised alarm bells. It is impressive that Joanne set her company Media Box up during the economic crisis, and I sympathised with her family situation, but she really should had kept it together during the interview round. Joanne proved to have a head on her shoulders, be a dedicated worker, and have brains to burn, but for now I agree with Bill that she is best continuing to work on expanding her business in Donegal.
It may not have been the most riveting of series, but this year’s The Apprentice provided some laughs and plenty of cringetastic moments.
Altogether now – You’re hired!
Laura Delaney
