The President, Mrs McAleese, has praised the Limerick City Enterprise Board for "leading the way in charting a new course where the talent of women is harnessed to its fullest potential".
The President was at the City Hall yesterday to launch the presentation of findings by the Enterprise Board of a national pilot study entitled "Captains of Enterprise".
The purpose of the research is to change the position where Ireland has one of the lowest rates of female participation in entrepreneurship in the EU with men being far more likely than women to start up their own business.
In an effort to redress this, the Limerick City Enterprise Board is the only body to secure funding from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform under equality for women measures.
The President said: "It is fantastic to see Limerick leading the way to show how this can be done. Where Limerick flourishes the nation will follow."
Mrs McAleese said we had the power to transform Ireland into a state which was "no longer flying on one wing but on two wings, a country where no one's talent is wasted or ignored, but where the talent of all is valued, respected, harvested and celebrated".
The mayor of Limerick, Councillor Dick Sadlier, said he was more confident that this innovative programme would achieve its long-term goal in increasing the number of female entrepreneurs in Ireland through early intervention at school level.
Mr Tom Mackey, chairman of the Enterprise Board, said that the number of women starting business in Limerick had risen from 16 per cent in 1996 to 33 per cent this year, which, he said, was almost 10 per cent above the national average.
He presented certificates to six teachers from Limerick, Clare, Kerry and north Tipperary who were involved in the programme.
Mr Eamon Ryan, chief executive officer of the Enterprise Board, said the outcome of the programme was that female students considering entrepreneurship had increased by 45 per cent.