Blacknight CEO Michele Neylon inducted into IIA Irish Internet Hall of Fame
Newly minted hall of fame celebrates the brightest stars of the Irish Internet
Michele Neylon has been inducted into the Irish Internet Hall of Fame and there is nothing anyone can do about it.
The 2015 Irish Internet Association Awards held on October 7, honoured the best of Ireland’s Internet, sending home awards with winning websites and companies in each of 15 categories. However, this year the IIA introduced something new: The Irish Internet Hall of Fame.
The inaugural Hall of Fame was established to recognise the top Irish tech entrepreneur visionaries from the past 20 years. Hall of Fame inductees include: Ann O’Dea, Darren McAuliffe, Colm Lyon, Ray Nolan, Pat Phelan, Jerry Kennelly, Eamon Leonard, Colm Grealy, Brian Caulfield, Fergal O’Byrne and Michele Neylon.
Neylon is known primarily for three things: Founding Blacknight, his reputation for being an outspoken take-no-prisoners advocate for innovation and justice online and his devastatingly cool t-shirt collection. Unfortunately, there is not currently a hall of fame for cool t-shirts.
"Technology, languages, leadership, innovation, courage, conviction, global perspective and vision are uncommon to find in one person. However, Michele Neylon, founder of Blacknight embodies them all,” explains Joan Mulvihill CEO of IIA. “He is the Chair of the ICANN Registrar Stakeholder Group and is actively involved in internet policy development but notwithstanding his international profile, he has been an unyielding supporter of Irish businesses getting online having provided free hosting for over 17,000 businesses in their first year. We are so proud to have him as a member, as an Overall Net Visionary Winner in 2013 and he is so worthy of his place as an inaugural inductee to the IIA Hall of Fame"
Neylon, a sponsor of the awards category “Best Website – Joyous to Look At, Splendid to Use” did not expect to also go home with one. “It is a massive honour to be inducted into the IIA Internet Hall of fame. I founded Blacknight with my business partner Paul Kelly because it was fun. I never imagined that I could have an impact on the Internet community that would warrant being inducted into a hall of fame. When your job feels like a hobby, you don’t expect to also get awards and I am beside myself. This is very cool,” says Neylon who was also the recipient of the Overall Net Visionary Award in 2013.
The IIA has announced that every year 10 new inductees that embody the net visionary spirit will be admitted to the Hall of Fame.
The IIA membership represents more than 40,000 people working in technology nationwide and Mulvihill claims it to be the largest, non-profit and independent voice for technology in Ireland.
About Blacknight
Blacknight (http://www.blacknight.com/) are an Irish based, ICANN accredited domain registrar and hosting company. Recipients of several awards for their revolutionary use of social media, Blacknight are one of Europe’s most cutting edge Internet companies. Blacknight constantly seek to lead the way by introducing innovative solutions for its client base and provide dedicated servers and co-location as well as a comprehensive range of Microsoft Windows and Linux based hosting services and domain name registration services to business globally. IP transit services and other solutions for more demanding business and academic customers are offered a la carte. Fibre broadband services for both business and domestic users are also available throughout most of Ireland.