Congratulations to Mary Dillon, who has been awarded the Franchising Woman of the Year 2016 award at the Irish Franchise Awards. (Not as exciting as it sounds, no doubt.)

For those who know her though, Dillon is a deserved winner of the prestigious award.

As the mammy of them all at Sherry FitzGerald Countrywide, she has applied the agency whip to the franchisees around the State in her role as countrywide managing director for the past four years.

With Sherry FitzGerald for 23 years, Dillon is highly regarded for having kept the faith with the franchise members around the country in the darkest hours of the recession and for her positivity in coming up with new ways for the businesses to move forward.

Sherry FitzGerald chief executive Mark FitzGerald said: “Mary’s stewardship of the franchise division began at a time when morale in the industry was quite low. Mary and her colleagues didn’t waste the recession; rather they used it to regroup, reflect and research.”