As the year draws to another end I would like to wish all the members and their families a very happy and peaceful Christmas and a very prosperous new year.

This year was an extremely busy year for the Ballina Chamber of Commerce and our staff. The staff do trojan work for all our members and I wish to thank Mags Downey Martin and the team for their dedication.

Next year the Chamber will see out the  completing of its 2015-2020 plan and I am satisfied to say we are ahead of our strategy a year sooner than expected. 

Some of the highlights for me personally was working with Local and Central government to deliver projects that will make Ballina a great place to live, work and do business. Some recent developments that are due to commence is the Mary Robinson Centre, the regeneration of the Technology Hub in Ballina’s Military Barracks, the improvements to the N58 and N26 with funding sought for advance a new orbital route. These projects are all great developments however more is needed for a town the size of Ballina.

As President of the Chamber, I have meet with An Taoiseach,  Ministers, TD and Senators and fought hard for Ballina to get the investments and support needed for the town. Ballina is now a very vibrant town with so much to offer which is evident by the huge numbers of tourist and festivals we are now offering.

This year Ballina Chamber delivered a Festival in July, the ‘Ballina Street Festival’, bringing over 200,000 people into the town during the week long event. I would like to again thank the Ballina business community for their support and financial backing, as well as Ballina Municipal District Council, the Community Employment participants and most importantly our volunteers; with over one hundred volunteers coming out to support the festival.

Ballina Chamber has five representatives on Mayo County Councils Strategic Policy Committees, ensuring we have a strong voice for North Mayo, alongside our elected representatives from Ballina Municipal District Council.

We are working hard for you the members and I would emphasis how important it is to shop local and keep money in the town. It is this type of spending that keeps jobs and money in to town to allow us prosper. 

Again on behalf myself, the executive and staff, Happy Christmas to you all. 

Hugh