This week I had an incredible interview with Oonagh Monahan who welcomed me to my first SWIBN event over 8 years ago. We talked about when she arrived to Sligo in 1995, her career, her love of food and favourite places to eat and visit in our beautiful home.

Here is some more information about Oonagh’s career

Oonagh founded Alpha Omega Consultants in 2008 and specialises in Food Business Development, Innovation and Technology Transfer and environmental research project management working as a consultant, mentor, trainer and author. With over 25 years experience, Oonagh has worked for both pharma and food multinationals including Kerry Group (Grove Turkeys), Premier Foods (Manor Bakeries), Elan Pharmaceuticals and Fort Dodge Laboratories. She has also worked in Academia at the forefront of technology transfer and collaboration. She moved to a position as General Manager of the Food Technology Centre in St. Angela’s College, Sligo, where she was responsible for business development of the centre and developing food product development and innovation projects with food producers.

Since setting up her own consultancy firm based in Leitrim, Oonagh has worked on cross-border technology transfer and innovation programmes with SME manufacturing and trade able services industries, while specialising in the food sector. At present, she works with a variety of food businesses across the island of Ireland and at all stages of their development, from start-up through growth to export and innovation. She has managed Inter trade Ireland funded and INTERREG cross border programmes for almost 20 years. To date, Oonagh has mentored over 300 food sector start-ups many of whom are now on supermarket shelves across the island.

Clients to date include Helix Innovation Partnerships; Enterprise Ireland (Business Mentor), InterTrade Ireland (INNOVA and Elevate programmes); Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Roscommon, Longford, Louth, Leitrim, Westmeath, Monaghan and Mayo Local Enterprise Offices; Mayo North East Partnership Company, South West Mayo Development, County Wicklow Partnership; ICBAN (Irish Cross Border Area Network), and Líonra (Regional Higher Education Network) among others. In addition, Oonagh lectures part-time in St. Angela’s College in Sligo as a food product development lecturer at St. Angela’s College, working on practical product development with Home Economics students and in EU and Irish Food Legislation.

Oonagh the Technical Consultant to the Irish Bread Bakers Association, and provides technical writing and reporting services to PKF-FPM Accountants for R&D tax credit refunds from HMRC and the Irish Revenue. Oonagh has also been the facilitator of the Sligo Women in Business Network since 2009.

Her best-selling book “Money for Jam – the Essential Guide to Starting Your Own Food Business” is published by Oaktree Press. In 2019 she won the Food Hero award from the IQFA, sponsored by Aldi Ireland. Oonagh is a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology (UK), a Chartered Scientist and a Fellow of the Institute of Food Science & Technology of Ireland.

More questions we asked Oonagh are . . . 

What do you love about living in Sligo?: 

The people I've met and the friends I've made.The culture, the music scene. The scenery - the sea and mountains.

If you could wave a magic wand what would you fix or bring to Sligo ie. facilities, shops, restaurants, culture/arts?: 

Better public transport connections into Leitrim!
Cycle lanes;
A food market area / partly covered in the town centre;
I always think that Sligo town lacks a "centre" like a square or public space where people can sit, where events / concerts could be held etc.
A food hub / community kitchen-type facility;
Ability to rent surf boards! (You can't rent surfboards in Sligo due to some bye-law, but you can in Donegal, why??!!);
Bette