Aidan Heavey, founder and chief executive of Tullow Oil, was last night crowned Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
Tullow Oil was founded by Heavey in 1986 and is an independent oil and gas exploration and production group, quoted on the Dublin and London stock exchanges. It has interests across Africa, and recently doubled its size through the acquisition of Energy Africa.
Mr Heavey also took the award in the international category.
Three other entrepreneurs also received awards at the ceremony in Dublin last night. Michael Carey of Jacob Fruitfield Food Group took the industry category, Jerry Kennelly of Stockbyte won the emerging category and John O'Shea of GOAL was Social Entrepreneur of the Year.
The Jacob Fruitfield Food Group was formed in August 2004, bringing together a collection of popular Irish food brands, including Chef, Fruitfield, Old Time Irish, Silvermints, Jacob's Kimberly, Bewley's and Scots Clan. The group employs 500 people.
Stockbyte, based in Tralee, Co Kerry, markets stock photography to the global marketplace. The company employs 40 people in Tralee and has been profitable since 1997.
