Brenda Romero, Lero @ UL, found herself one of the unexpected stand-up comedians of Inspirefest 2016, causing much of the audience to erupt into fits of laughter as she recalled her background in gaming.

Beginning her game development career in 1981, Romero was one of only five women in the industry at that time, but noted that the advent of mobile gaming has seen greater numbers of women enter the fray.

“For the first time in my career, I was hearing things like ‘We would really like to talk to you because you’re a female game designer’, not ‘We would like to talk to you even though you’re a female game designer’,” Romero said on stage this year.

She is now working with her partner and co-founder John Romero – a legend in game design in his own right – on developing their studio in Galway, having taken the decision to move here after falling in love with Ireland.

You can follow Romero at her Twitter handle @br