The findings of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) 2011 report for Ireland have been revealed today, indicating that around 2,200 people set up a new venture in Ireland each month during 2011.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD, announced the findings of the GEM report for Ireland today, which showed there had been an increase in early stage entrepreneurial activity in Ireland in 2011 when compared with the previous year.
The report itself has been compiled by the national GEM co-ordinator Paula Fitzsimons and Dr Colm O’Gorman from DCU Business School.
According to the GEM’s findings for Ireland for 2011, almost three-quarters of these self-starters expect to become employers.
Gender-wise, the report reveals that two and a half times as many men as women are entrepreneurs in Ireland.
Tom Hayes, head of micro-enterprise and small business at Enterprise Ireland, welcomed the finding that a higher proportion of Irish entrepreneurs (11pc) are involved in medium or high-tech sectors when compared to OECD (7.3pc) and EU (7.9pc) averages.
Necessity remains a strong factor, at 31pc, for people to go down the entrepreneurial route. According to the report, Ireland has a higher rate of such necessity entrepreneurship than is the norm across the OECD and the EU, including in Spain and Greece.
For 2011, the GEM report also noted a decrease in the perception of entrepreneurship as being a desirable career path in Ireland, with just 46pc of the population considering it a good career choice. This was compared with a 70pc figure in 2006.
Entrepreneurship image via Shutterstock
