Cavan Chamber of Commerce set to make a return

Cavan Chamber of Commerce is set to return with plans to boost the economy of the County Town.

Discussions at an EGM held last Wednesday (July 31) were fruitful and the revitalised chamber now aims to bring back Cavan’s voucher system and a St Patrick’s Day parade.

Although a committee will not be formed until an AGM happens in January, Cllr Philip Brady, along with a working group, is driving the project in the interim.

The Mullahoran man had his county councillor and town businessman hat on when he spoke to the Celt last Friday.

“As a business man or a councillor it’s to try and see businesses, all businesses within our county thrive and to try and make Cavan a better place to live in and a better place to visit and to be in.”

The new proposed voucher scheme will be launched in mid-October to encourage local spending, and in time for the Christmas markets which take place a few weeks later.

It's expected to be “something similar” to a One 4 All voucher, however it will not depreciate over time.

As of Friday afternoon, there were 40 businesses on board with the voucher scheme and the chamber hopes to have more than double this in the months ahead. The response has been “far better” than anticipated, with the group only starting to garner businesses this week. The card will have a QR code on the reverse to enable cardholders check how much credit remains.

“We want to get everybody behind it to show what great shops we have and what great businesses we have in Cavan town from our retailers to our restaurants to our publicans to every other business going. It is 100% going back into the businesses of Cavan.”

The project ultimately aims to have a voucher that customers can spend in all of the shops in Cavan Town.

“We’re trying to get people back in towards the town centre itself, we’re trying to get businesses back in towards the centre,” he said.

The Celt points out that people may avoid the town centre due to parking problems.

Cllr Brady said the chamber are aware of this and are discussing possible solutions with the council.

“It’s being talked about a lot,” he acknowledged. “There’s a lot of things we have in the pipeline to help alleviate the problems on days that we have things going on in the town.

“It’s something that we are looking at to see what we can do better to help people when they come into Cavan town so that it’s easier to park and still not too far to walk.”

Revenue generated by the vouchers will go towards the St Patrick’s Day parade and other festivals, Christmas lights, and other projects. There is “a lot” more in the pipeline too promises the chamber.

The St Patrick’s Day parade is the next major project the chamber are bidding to address.

“We’re going to have a St Patrick’s weekend festival,” Philip enthused. “The county town, like every other small town should have a parade to celebrate the Irish culture that we have so we will be looking for volunteers.”

Work in this regard will commence in the coming weeks.

Acknowledging that the previous iteration of Cavan Chamber of Commerce ceased operating, Cllr Brady is confident this will be different.

“It fizzled out I suppose,” he said. “You need change and you need freshness every so often because if you don’t, you get stale,” he said, adding that this can cause a drop in enthusiasm.

The new plan is to have “rolling chairpersons” and committees to bring something different to the table every year.

A lot of young people are currently involved in the group.

“It was nothing to do with the people who were there the last time, there was a lot of good work done by a lot of business people for a long number of years and they probably just didn’t get the help they needed.”

He thanked Cavan County Council for their support to date in getting the chamber back up and running.

“We just want to thank Cavan County Council for all their help in recognising what we want to do and giving us the support to go and be the best chamber around.”

To join the Chamber of Commerce it is €250 until the end of 2025. They are currently working on their strategic plans for the next three years.