{"id":427501,"date":"2026-05-01T19:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/427501\/"},"modified":"2026-05-01T19:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-01T19:55:10","slug":"danny-in-running-for-entrepreneur-gong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/427501\/","title":{"rendered":"Danny in running for entrepreneur gong"},"content":{"rendered":"
Danny Buckley has had a whirlwind few years, and only started out on his entrepreneurial journey after a challenging period of life in which he encountered setbacks, change, and grief.<\/p>\n
Being included in the nominations for the EY Young Entrepreneur of the Year award is a huge achievement and very prestigious company to be in. What does that mean for the Cork man?<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, it means a huge amount.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re building something day to day, head down, you don\u2019t always stop to take stock of how far you\u2019ve come.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, to receive external recognition from EY – widely regarded as the most prestigious entrepreneurship competition in Ireland – genuinely stopped me in my tracks for a moment,\u201d says Danny, who grew up in Knocknaheeny.<\/p>\n
His nomination is for his work with ADHD Now, a service providing adult and child ADHD assessments, treatments, including psychiatry and therapy.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy vision and motivation behind ADHD Now was deeply personal,\u201d explains Danny.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter experiencing first-hand how difficult it was to access support, I was determined to ensure that the people coming after me wouldn\u2019t face the same challenges.<\/p>\n
\u201cADHD Now was created to provide faster, more compassionate ADHD care, turning years of waiting for the service into a few weeks.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cI\u2019m incredibly proud of how far we\u2019ve come and of the dedicated team driving this mission every day.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cWe now have an excellent multidisciplinary team that includes consultant psychiatrists, chartered psychologists, assistant psychologists, and nurse practitioners.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have this work acknowledged at such a high level is truly special.\u201d<\/p>\n
The winner of the EY award will be announced in a ceremony at the Powerscourt Hotel in Wicklow in November.<\/p>\n
There are categories in Emerging, Established, and International for entrepreneurs, and eight nominees in each.<\/p>\n
In Danny\u2019s Emerging category, other nominees include a Dublin beauty shop and a drone business. He is the only Cork businessperson in the category.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s such a privilege to be selected as a finalist,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore than anything, it feels like a real milestone in the journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme is on for nine months, and I\u2019m really looking forward to getting to know the wider EY alumni community, including the opportunity to travel to Canada next month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI will be surrounded by a group of people who represent the backbone of the Irish economy.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cTo be placed right in the middle of that community is something I\u2019m incredibly grateful for. It\u2019s a chance to learn, connect, and contribute. I\u2019m a proud Norrie in the middle of that.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
Danny says he always had a desire to be an entrepreneur – \u201cbut life had other plans for me\u201d. The loss of his beloved wife was a difficult time.<\/p>\n
He explains: \u201cI faced my own illness, and then my wife Simone became unwell. For nearly ten years, the focus was simply on getting well myself and caring for her. During that time, the idea of building something of my own had to wait.<\/p>\n
\u201cSimone was incredibly supportive. She encouraged me to back myself, to discover who I was, and to become the best version of myself. \u201cShe urged me to seek help for my ADHD and to pursue the path I had always felt drawn to.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter she passed away, I came to the realisation that life is short. From that moment, I decided to give my best each day and see where the journey would lead, taking it one step at a time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThrough my own experiences, I also recognised that in Ireland, access to mental health and neurodiversity services was a significant bottleneck. That insight became the foundation for my work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have focused on building exceptional clinical teams and developing processes and systems to improve access and provide effective, compassionate care for those who need it most.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe Ireland can become a world leader in this area.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n This go-ahead entrepreneur also has other ambitious plans in the works.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very excited about an opportunity I\u2019m hoping to be able to share soon,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have acquired a company in the mental health space, and it will fit naturally with what we\u2019re building.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s focused on post-diagnostic supports, particularly helping parents who are navigating an ADHD, autism or mental health diagnosis in their children, supporting them in understanding what it means and how best to help their child day to day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vision has always been bigger than one service. It\u2019s about building services of care for people who need it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He has also recently launched ADHD Now in Northern Ireland, and is looking at expanding into other European markets.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlongside that, my work with AutismCare involves supporting both government and the HSE, which I\u2019m incredibly proud of,\u201d adds Danny.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the beginning, the ambition was to build something meaningful and high-quality enough that it could eventually support and strengthen the public system as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
What advice would he give to someone looking to change something in their life, be it business or personal or life in general?<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t wait until you\u2019ve everything figured out to start. Change usually begins right in the middle of the mess, the pain, and the struggle not after it\u2019s all sorted.<\/p>\n
\n \u201cFirst, you\u2019ve got to back yourself. Not in an arrogant way, just a quiet belief that even if things are messy right now, you can figure it out.\n <\/p>\n
\u201cSecondly, you\u2019ve got to be willing to do the work. There are no shortcuts. The people who create change are the ones who keep showing up, even when it\u2019s hard, even when things are slow, even when you\u2019re right in the middle of the struggle.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd probably the biggest one is to ask for help. That\u2019s the one most of us struggle with, I ask for help every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe think it\u2019s a weakness, especially when we\u2019re in the mess of it, but it\u2019s actually one of the strongest things you can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I genuinely believe this, when you show up with belief and you\u2019re willing to do the work, the right people tend to show up at the right time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen it enough in my own life to know it\u2019s not just coincidence. The right conversation, the right bit of support, the right door opening – it all seems to come when you\u2019re ready for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo whatever it is you want to change just start. In the mess, in the pain, in the struggle. Back yourself, do the work, ask for help. The rest has a way of working itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n