Acknowledgement & links
The Gap Year Gift was the brainchild of retired businessman Cartan Finegan and has been developed and promoted with the help of the following:Gerard Tannam of Islandbridge Brand Development
Gerard Tannam is the owner of Islandbridge Brand Development and, like many entrepreneurs, has always loved a great idea. It was whilst working as an Inspector of Police in Hong Kong that he was first stricken by the entrepreneurial bug and, since then, he’s set up projects and businesses as diverse as LKF The Gallery, Arts & Noise Events, The Smile Conference and the Set Out Your Stall Workshops, and has worked with companies of all sizes – from start-up to global – in Hong Kong, Ireland and across the world.
Cartan and Gerard first worked together on the landmark Fly The Flag campaign for the National Safety Council in 1999 (which was credited with an immediate drop in road-deaths in the months that followed and served as a blueprint for much of the thinking and activity around road safety in the years since). When Cartan talked about his ambitious idea for an inspiring and practical Gap Year Gift model, Gerard didn’t require much persuasion to come on board to help make it happen.
Island Bridge, Expert Brand Development in Ireland
Paul Hurley of MarketBuild
Paul Hurley is the owner of MarketBuild and offers practical, real-world sales & marketing solutions to business-owners across Ireland. Before setting up MarketBuild, Paul served a seventeen-year ‘apprenticeship’ with multinational and local businesses, working in senior management roles with GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson and Friends First. His experience spans some household brand names and prize winning promotional campaigns.A graduate of University College Cork, like most Corkonians, Paul can be found regularly in a Red or Green Jersey in the environs of Croke Park and Lansdowne Road.
Paul also has first-hand experience of the world where Gap Year Gift hopes to make a difference thanks to his volunteer work with the Niall Mellon Township Challenge in 2005. The aim of this challenge is to replace the tin and wood shacks of the Imizamo Yethu township near Cape Town with solid concrete homes. Working among the disadvantaged of Cape Town certainly acted as a catalyst for Paul’s interest in Gap Year Gift.
Paul Hurley, MarketBuild
Conor Horgan of Cullen Communications
A Director of PR consultancy Cullen Communications, Conor Horgan’s association with Gap Year Gift stems from over a decade of professional and personal connection with Cartan and Gerard.
His work has brought him into contact with a wealth of non-profit organisations, especially in the environmental field, for which he has carried off a PR gong or two.
When not looking to get stories into (or keep them out of) the media, he’s generally to be found strategising with fellow MBA’s on the 19th hole.
A trip this year to Ethiopia has served to enrich Conor’s interest in 3rd world affairs and deepen his belief in the value of the Gap Year Gift.
Cullen Communications
The Gap Year Gift identity was developed by Spin.
During our research and development of the model, we have also been greatly helped by:
Marina Ni Riain and Fred Penco of Penco
Damian Fadden of Irish Life
