Limerick TY student overwhelmed with local support on his new hurling business start up

placeholder image — Limerick TY student overwhelmed with local support on his new hurling business start up

Cathal Sweeney (16) donates one euro to every pink Glo Hurling ball he sells to Breast Cancer Ireland

Cathal Sweeney (16) from Limerick has created a successful business and is selling his unique product nationwide.

Cathal from Raheen in Limerick is a TY student at Mungret Community College and he plays GAA for his club, Mungret St. Pauls.

Cathal is now the proud business owner of Glo Hurling which he created near the end of last year.

"I decided to develop a GAA wall ball called the glo ball, which glows in the dark. I came up with this idea because there have been countless winter evenings when I wanted to go outside and puck a ball for 10 or 15 minutes, but I couldn’t — it was pitch dark, and the lights outside were very limited.

"Setting up the website itself was straightforward but getting samples and actual balls made was very difficult".

Cathal said the process was difficult because he spent weeks getting samples over and back and he waited until he found a ball he was fully happy with.

"I have four colours. So I have pink, yellow, blue and white. And for each pink glow ball I sell, I donate one euro to Breast Cancer Ireland.

"I picked Breast Cancer Ireland because there was these two women and they came into my school and did a talk about breast cancer and the dangers and the amount of people it affects.

"So every one euro spent for the pink balls are going towards that charity".

"I've had a load of support from people across Ireland supporting me. It's great like I didn't think when I first started that I would be able to take it this far. I've probably sold at least 10 orders to each county".

His hope for the future is to have his glow balls in every club in the country.

"It removes the need for smaller clubs to buy really expensive floodlights. I want them to be in shops across Ireland and get recognised nationally".

Cathal's business came first in the senior category of the Limerick student enterprise competition and he is preparing to represent Limerick in the All Ireland competition in May.

Cathal said that he has received a lot of supportive and positive feedback from people in Limerick specifically.

"When people hear I'm from Limerick, I end up getting a load of orders from Limerick. I'd say 10% of my total orders are just from people around my area that I know".

Cathal has thanked his business teachers, Ms. Clancy and Ms. Fox, who have supported him throughout his business journey.

To visit Cathal's website, you can do so via the link here.