Luke Hanahoe was yesterday evening (Monday 11th October) re – elected President of County Kildare Chamber. County Kildare Chamber is the voice of business for Kildare representing in excess of 400 companies throughout the mid-east region. Luke Hanahoe is incredibly excited about the year ahead and looks forward to working with all key stakeholders in the region to ensure that Kildare continues to be one of the country’s leading growth centres over the coming years. The Chamber over the next number of months will be in both Dubai and Boston, as they continue to promote Kildare and seek to attract new business to the county.
Speaking after formally accepting the role from the membership of the Chamber, President Luke Hanahoe, Managing Partner of Hanahoe and Hanahoe Solicitors, whose principle offices are in Naas, commented on the strength of the Chamber and its commanding voice for business. The Chamber is embarking on a range of exciting new projects which are all focused around positioning the county as the ideal location for business enterprise to set up in.
“It is my absolute privilege to be re- elected as President of County Kildare Chamber and I look forward to a very exciting year ahead. Reacting to the needs of our members, we are in the process of recruiting for a policy executive to join the Chamber team. This will further strengthen our role as policy drivers in the county and will have a particular focus on strengthening our engagement with local and national Government. I am also delighted to announce in March 2022 the Chamber will be leading a trade visit to Boston, focusing on attracting businesses to set up their European HQ’s in Kildare. I am incredibly excited to welcoming back “In person events“ for our members and to meet face to face the businesses who have joined during the past 20 months. The Chamber is continuing its commitment to bring Kildare the most prestigious guest speakers, starting with our Christmas lunch on the 9th of December, where we will be hosting former Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. Despite Covid and the impact businesses are facing with Brexit, our Chamber has actually increased its membership over the last 18 months. Such an achievement speaks to the relentless hard work and drive of our CEO Allan Shine and Marketing & Communications Manager Jennifer Forster, but also to the quality of our membership and to the Kildare Business community as a whole. I am proud to say that over the last 12 months we have invested €40,000 in the renovation of the iHub in our offices, which is home to 8 High Potential Businesses. Our aim over the next number of months is for the iHub to reach its capacity and to partner with Maynooth University in delivering a series of learning programmes to enable these companies to grow and prosper in Kildare”.
The AGM held via zoom saw the election of:
Mairead Hennessy (TaxKey as Vice President, Keith Traynor ( KT Accountants ) Treasurer and Ronan Twohig ( Gannon Office Group ) as Secretary.
Joining the board also were Paul Keogh (Paul Keogh and Associates), Adrian Mooney (Kilkea Castle), Mary Fenin Byrne (The Clanard Court Hotel), Pat Sutton ( O’Kelly Sutton Accountants), Evan Arkwright (The Curragh Racecourse), Linda Gill Ryan (Essential Health and Safety Training and Consultancy LTD), Brian Purcell (BP Communications) and John Hurley (JAH Business Consultants).
Luke thanked both Maureen Bergin of Kildare Village and Llyod O’Rourke of VEI Global, both of whom stepped down at the AGM.