The 2008 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) Report for Ireland was launched today by An Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan TD. The report, sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Forfás and AIB, confirms that Ireland is at heart an entrepreneurial nation and to the fore in Europe in both the rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity (7.6%) and in the rate of established entrepreneurs (9%) among the adult population. With an average of 2,800 individuals setting up new businesses every month, entrepreneurial activity in Ireland remains high, according to the latest GEM report.

The rate at which individuals started businesses in Ireland (4.3%) continues well above the EU (2.7%) and OECD (3.3%) averages and compares well to the rate prevalent in the United States (5.0%).

The findings of the 2008 report confirm that culture and social norms remain broadly positive towards entrepreneurship and that the aspiration among people to become an entrepreneur in the medium term remains strong. The report also notes that in more challenging times, there is an increase in the numbers turning to entrepreneurship as a means of creating employment for themselves.

The main Report findings include:

• Despite the changed economic environment in Ireland in 2008, GEM reports that at the time of the 2008 survey (June 2008) there was no fall off in the level of those who had recently set up a new business (new firm entrepreneurs) (4.3%), that Ireland remained to the fore in Europe in early stage entrepreneurs (7.6%) and that there continues to be a high level of established owner managers at 9% of the adult population.
  
• One in four (27%) of early stage entrepreneurs is a serial entrepreneur in that he/she has been involved in entrepreneurial activity previously.
  
• Reflecting the economic conditions there is a significant decline in the number of people perceiving good opportunities to start a new business - down to 27% from 46% in 2007. The aspiration to start a new business in the next three years (10%), however, still remains strong.
  
• The rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity among men increased from 10.6% in 2007 to 11.2%. As is the case in nearly every country in the world, the rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity among women is less than it is among men. Ireland is no exception. The rate of early stage entrepreneurial activity among women in 2008 was 4.0%, similar to the level in 2006, but lower than the rate in 2007 (5.9%).
  
• The focus of activity among early stage entrepreneurs in 2008 is different to that reported in 2007. In 2008 fewer entrepreneurs focused on consumer related sectors (37%) than in the previous year (44%) and there was a more even distribution across the sectors including business services (30%) and transformative (25%) than had been the case previously.
  
• GEM can report for the first time on the generally held belief that those born outside the country are more involved in early stage entrepreneurship. This widely held perception is in fact true. Those born outside the country and now living in Ireland are more entrepreneurial (9.1%) than those who were born in Ireland (7.3%). It should also be noted that those who have lived outside of Ireland for more than one year, whether they were born in Ireland or not, have a higher rate of entrepreneurial activity (10.5%) than have those who have never lived outside the country.

Professor Barry Smyth, UCD's School of Computer Science and Informatics and co-founder of two UCD spin-out companies, ChangingWorlds, whose Advanced Research Centre is located at NovaUCD, and HeyStaks, is one of 12 entrepreneurs featured in this year's Report.

The authors of the GEM 2008 report are Paula Fitzsimons, National GEM Co-ordinator, and Dr Colm O'Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship, DCU Business School.

ENDS

May 15 2009

For further information contact Micéal Whelan, NovaUCD, e: miceal.whelan@ucd.ie, t: (01) 716 3712.