Latest news with #NiallDennehy
Irish Independent
12-08-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Improvement plan described as ‘stake through the heart' of major Tipperary town
Councillors were briefed on plans to introduce a Business Improvement District (BID) for Clonmel, in an attempt to revitalise the town. Under the BID plans, businesses would pay a levy which would be used to fund an independent company, which would aim to improve services beyond what is provided by the local authority, as well as going towards initiatives such as the Christmas lights and the St Patrick's Day parade. Supporters say the scheme, already credited with boosting trade in Drogheda since 2019, could revitalise Clonmel's struggling town centre. But critics warn it risks adding new costs to businesses without addressing deeper structural problems. Not everyone was on board with the idea, with one local representative saying the plan represented 'not just a duplication or triplication but a quadruplication of resources'. Independent councillor Niall Dennehy said that people needed to 'smell the coffee' and that the plans would further drive a stake through the heart of struggling businesses in Clonmel. "This is a B.I.D to drive a further stake through the heart of an already impotent Municipal and Borough District system – subordinate sub-committees of this plenary council with no powers and no money,' Cllr Dennehy said. "I see it as an admission by the proponents, of the powerlessness of Chamber and of Team Clonmel and town champions,' he added. The objectives of the BID are already under the responsibility of Tipperary County Council, Cllr Dennehy said, hitting out about the proposed salary that would be paid to the CEO of the Clonmel BID company. 'Creating another €100,000 salaried quango CEO position with more paid ancillary staff at a further cost of €400,000 in added Commercial Rate Taxes on businesses in Clonmel is just not acceptable,' the Clonmel-based councillor said. The BID plans would be put to a plebiscite to all commercial rates payers in the town, which would decide if the plans are implemented or not. According to Cllr Dennehy however, the only plebiscite that should be put before people in Clonmel is the restoration of Clonmel Borough Council, which is 'the only remedy for Clonmel'. The Clonmel BID scheme is backed by County Tipperary Chamber and the Clonmel Town Team, and received broad support from councillors from across county Tipperary.
Irish Times
07-08-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
The future of pocket money? NestiFi lets families invest together for kids
Traditional banking has – eventually – adopted innovations such as digital-only accounts and smartphone payments. However, some elements of the financial infrastructure are still firmly stuck in the past, as anyone who has tried to gift money to a child in forms other than cash or vouchers will have discovered. Having run across this problem himself, Niall Dennehy began mulling over a possible solution. He applied his background in banking, telecoms and digital payments, and in June this year launched NestiFi, an AI -powered investment platform allowing parents, grandparents, relatives and friends to invest in a child's future as a group. To start the process, a designated adult downloads the free app and sets up an account for the child. This provides access to a personalised link they can share with family and friends who want to contribute to the child's nest egg. The person overseeing the account then chooses from a range of low-fee index funds and invests the money. Performance expectations are based on a 7.2 per cent average annual return, which Dennehy says is the approximate historical average (adjusted for inflation) of the S&P 500 over the past 30 years. NestiFi does not need a banking licence as it does not hold any client money. Investments are made through licensed/regulated intermediaries such as brokers, credit unions and brokerage-as-a-service providers. 'NestiFi rethinks investing through the lens of family and collaboration,' he says, adding that it is designed to support families in several different ways, whether that's to save for college fees, give gifts of digital assets or introduce children to the concept of financial literacy. [ Ireland 'actively hindering its citizens from building wealth and securing their future' Opens in new window ] 'The platform supports traditional investments such as stocks and ETFs as well as blockchain-powered assets like stablecoins and tokenised real-world assets,' Dennehy says. 'Our AI adviser 'Sebastian' provides personalised financial guidance for each user, and children can earn rewards by completing interactive lessons. For example, if they spend X number of hours learning on the app, they'll get a voucher for the same amount of time for Disney Plus.' NestiFi is not Dennehy's first innovation rodeo. A graduate of the University of Galway, where he studied IT, Dennehy has been involved with multiple start-ups as founder/co-founder, including digital payments infrastructure company, Aid:Tech, which was the overall winner of The Irish Times Innovation Awards in 2018. NestiFi is his latest venture, and the company currently employs four people. 'I've spent the last decade building technology at the intersection of trust, transparency and financial inclusion, and it struck me that families have no modern tools with which to build wealth together because most investment apps are built for individuals, not families,' Dennehy says. 'I felt the time had come to replace siloed banking apps and old-school custodial accounts with a next-gen platform that would bring together traditional investing, blockchain assets and family-based financial literacy in one seamless experience,' he adds. Dennehy says the company's initial target market will be the US, where an $84 trillion (€75.5 trillion) intergenerational wealth transfer is already under way. Europe will follow, including Ireland, where Dennehy says a substantial wealth transfer will also take place over the next 20 years. Families are a key market for NestiFi, but so are credit unions, financial advisers, financial institutions and fintechs interested in offering NestiFi as a value-added service to their clients. Investment in the business to date is running at about €250,000, and the company is currently raising a seed round of €1.5 million. A private beta launch is slated for the third quarter, with a full roll-out in the US to follow later this year. NestiFi's revenue will come from transaction fees and signing up channel partners. NestiFi is taking part in the AI Ecosystem Accelerator Programme run jointly by NovaUCD and CeADAR – Ireland's centre for AI – while completing regulatory compliance in the US and guiding a pilot group of families through a test run of the app. 'The Tam (total addressable market) is huge, and while we face competition, I think we can differentiate ourselves through the ease of our user interface and the fact that this side of the market is underserved by technology,' Dennehy says. The biggest challenge Dennehy has faced in setting up NestiFi has been navigating regulatory complexity while trying to move fast. 'We're building something that touches custody, tokenised assets and AI, all in a space where compliance really matters, especially when kids and families are involved. Trying to innovate responsibly without getting stuck in red tape has been the real balancing act,' he says. As a serial entrepreneur, Dennehy knows his way around the start-up ecosystem. However, he says that clearer guidance and faster turnaround times within the grants system would make a massive difference to how fast a company can develop. 'Often, the paperwork is intense, and the decision timelines are too slow. If there were more founder-first grant supports with less admin and more mentorship built in, I think we'd see even more global-scale companies emerge from Ireland,' he says. 'Too often, start-ups are forced to chase funding instead of focusing on customers and product. There is a lot of goodwill and some excellent people in the ecosystem, but I think there's still a gap between ambition and execution. [ Google, CeADAR to partner on deal to support AI in Irish business Opens in new window ] 'What I'd truly love to see would be a founder-led innovation hub, something agile with fast access to capital, technical expertise, and hands-on support for international expansion. We need to move away from treating grants as red-tape-heavy lifelines and instead use them as strategic fuel to help early-stage teams build, test and scale faster,' Dennehy says. Are you aware of a recent innovation or innovator we should feature in this column? Email us at innovation@
Irish Independent
24-07-2025
- General
- Irish Independent
Future of historic Tipperary friary remains uncertain
In December last year, the Franciscan Order announced that the Friary Church in Clonmel would close due to lack of priests to sustain a weekly mass at the 13th century building. At the July meeting of the Clonmel Borough District, independent councillor Niall Dennehy sought an update on the future of the historic building in the town. Cllr Dennehy told the meeting that he had gotten requests from members of the community that whatever the plans for the building are, the building not be deconsecrated. In response to Cllr Dennehy's call, the district administrator said that she was unaware of the plans for the former friary, but that she could write to the Franciscans to find out what they plan on doing with it. Earlier this year, a local prayer group, who had been using the Friary, staged a sit-in protesting its planned closure. The Abbey House of Prayer Group had signed a temporary agreement to be allowed to use the building in May 2023, and were supposed to hand the keys of the building back to the Franciscans on December 31, 2024, after the final mass in the church took place. However, the group staged a months-long sit-in protesting the closure of the church by the Franciscan Order. The group's protest was brought to an end by High Court action in February this year after the judge in the case struck out the action if the group vacated the church. In 2023, the Franciscan Order pulled out of Clonmel after centuries in the town due to dwindling numbers and aging friars.
