Willie Duggan Lighting feature on The Sunday Business Post

Willie Duggan is proof that there is life, and light, after an international sporting career.

The former Ireland rugby captain and British and Irish Lion retired from the sport in 1984 with 42 caps. He had a back-up career, however as managing director of Willie Duggan Lighting, one of the largest lighting distributors in the country.

"I took over the family business at 22 from my father, who set it up in 1939," said Duggan, who is an electrician by trade. "Today both my daughters and my wife, the boss, help run the company. My son is studying for a masters degree in lighting in London."

The company is an exclusive distributor for high-end European lighting products, such as Swiss architectural lighting by Agabekov, and a raft of Italian manufacturers, such as Beby, Foscarini, Giovannetti and Kundalini.

The public may not be familiar with Duggan's company, but they're likely to be familiar with it's work in buildings around the country.

For example, it supplied the exterior lighting for the fruit market in Smithfield in Dublin, and the Odeon Bar on Harcourt Street in Dublin city centre.

It has supplied interior and exterior lighting for a range of hotels, including the Citywest Hotel in Dublin, the Silver Springs Moran in Cork, the Shamrock Lodge in Athlone, the Marriot in Galway, and the Heritage Golf and Spa Hotel in Laois. Duggan has also lit up homes, showrooms, swimming pools and gardens.

Duggan said that the firm worked on everything from traditional lighting to eco-friendly systems, coloured LEDs and fibre optic lighting. "My advice to clients - whether they're building their own house or they're commercial customers - is to think about lighting before building starts," said Duggan. "Lighting is fundamental to the mood and atmosphere of a space, and thinking about it in advance and wiring properly for it will reduce costs in the long run.

"With lighting, you need to see the products in real life and see the colour of the light they emit to appreciate them and decide if they are right for your space," he said.

"Its not the same as looking at it in a catalogue. We have an inhouse lighting and design consultancy, which uses lighting calculation software to design lighting layouts and 3D images, so clients can see what the end product will look like from concept to completion."

The company opened a new showroom in Kilkenny in 2006 and now stocks contemporary Italian furniture, including pieces Kartell, which has enjoyed renewed popularity with the coloured range of polycarbonate chairs designed by Philippe Starck.

"Contemporary furniture is wacky and fun, and Italian manufacturers are masters at making functional statement pieces," said Duggan.

By Tina-Marie O'Neill