Mr. Matt McCann:

I would echo that entirely. This October will mark my eighth year in business. When I started, I could not find any examples of disability-owned businesses within Ireland. It was difficult. It might go to Professor Cooney's remark that some people do not want to be the role models. However, that is different to setting up that support network. When we talk about showcasing success stories, we are talking about bringing businesses front and centre into the media and doing that series of stories. This is great for a few days of coverage and great for generating publicity but it sets those businesses up almost on a pedestal, which means people then feel they are more difficult to approach. Sometimes, when I was starting out on my journey, I just wanted to be able to talk with other founders in the same position. I found that when there were other businesses which were maybe showcased in the media, I felt I could not approach them as I was not there on my journey. I did not know how to talk about different challenges I was facing. When I started out through the Enterprise Ireland support programmes, there were times I felt I could not really talk about the challenges I was facing because it was different for the other people within my cohort. I had to push through that. If I had had access to the course now being run and had known there was a supportive network available or that if I went to the LEO and asked to talk to a disability-owned business, it would agree and open me up to that cohort would have been a great support. Sharing our lived experiences and sharing those challenges is really where I see most of the power; not leaving it up to a select few businesses that just seem to be promoted. That for me would have been a great support.