In short
- The catalogue has one agency in Kinvara: Catwalk Model Agency, run by Mandy Maher.
- It has worked since 1998, has women's, men's and new faces boards and works for the fashion and bridal markets.
- Galway city itself has no catalogue agencies, and the country's largest market is Dublin.
Catwalk Model Agency
Kinvara is a seaside village in County Galway in the west of Ireland. Of the 19 Irish agencies in our catalogue, one is here, and it is the only one in the county. Ireland has neither a licence written for model agencies nor an association of them, so the catalogue lists every business that represents models. We do not vouch for them, and each profile shows what we found, good and bad: fees charged to applicants, courses, the company's status in the register and press reports.
Catwalk Model Agency is run by Mandy Maher. The agency presents itself as working in Dublin and Galway, and its contact page gives only Kinvara, County Galway, with no street address. On its website it says it has a strong background in the fashion and bridal markets. We took the founding year from the press: the Galway Advertiser wrote in the summer of 2008 about the agency's 10th anniversary and about its models having won the Miss Ireland title.
Mandy Maher also runs a sister influencer agency, The Platform; it does not represent models, so it is not in the catalogue. We did not find Catwalk Model Agency in the company register data, and we found nothing about fees for applicants on its website, so ask about them before you apply. In the catalogue the agency is listed on the pages women, men and new faces.
Other markets
- Dublin has 12 of the 19 catalogue agencies and hosts part of Ireland Fashion Week.
- Limerick has Holman Lee Agency, with women's, men's and talent boards.
How to get started
- Take simple digitals in daylight and write down accurate measurements.
- Check on the agency's profile what we found about it, and ask about fees for applicants before you meet.
- Before you sign, ask for the contract in writing and look in it for the commission, the length of the exclusivity and the payment term. No law or association sets the commission in Ireland.
- Be wary of people who write in an agency's name from personal accounts and of pressure to pay at once: these are signs of a modeling scam.
- The licence, commission, tax, the PPS number and the rules for minors are covered in the guide Modeling agencies in Ireland.