How did The Irish Times profile BuyIreland.com?
The Irish Times — Ireland's newspaper of record — profiled BuyIreland.com co-founder John Beckett in a feature article by Caroline Madden published on February 23, 2007.
Who is BuyIreland.com co-founder John Beckett?
The article, titled "Poacher turns gamekeeper to tap into niche," explored Beckett's remarkable entrepreneurial career. At just 16, he developed Ryanair's first website through his company Adrenalin Systems — a project completed for just £20,000 while other designers had quoted "ridiculous" figures of £3.5 million.
"Don't get me wrong, Ryanair got a bargain... We got so much publicity after it as well. I mean you couldn't pay for the publicity that we got," Beckett told The Irish Times.
By 25, Beckett had built a mini-empire spanning web design, biometrics, and property development. Among his ventures, The Irish Times highlighted BuyIreland.com:
"Yet another of Beckett's 'hare-brained schemes' that's going from strength to strength is buyireland.com, which sells 1sq ft plots of land in Roscommon as novelty gifts to Irish Americans."
What corporate milestone did the article highlight?
The article also noted a significant corporate milestone: "The company scored a recent coup when a distiller bought up 2,000 plots to use for a St Patrick's Day promotion" — demonstrating BuyIreland.com's appeal beyond individual gifts into corporate marketing.
Being featured in The Irish Times, which has served as Ireland's paper of record since 1859, was an important endorsement of BuyIreland.com's growing success and legitimacy within Ireland itself.
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