Cavan Chamber gets behind Shop Local message

Cavan Chamber has been revived and the new committee are gearing up for a busy Christmas in the county town.

They are most excited ahead of the switching on of the Christmas lights and the arrival of santy next month.

A new gift card scheme has also been initiated and will be launched in early December to encourage people to shop local.

Chairman of the Chamber’s committee, Philip Brady from the Sports Shop, says there is much to look forward to in Cavan this Christmas.

“The Chamber has taken over the lights and our aim is to have the best lights display in the county within the next two or three years,” he continued before adding they will be officially switched on, on December 7 next. On the same day, the big man himself, Santa, will be the guest of honour and will bring plenty of presents for local children.

“We have been working very hard over the past few months on a new gift card scheme. The ‘Cavan Gift Card’ will be launched in early December and will not only showcase what great shops and businesses we have in Cavan town - from our retailers to our restaurants to our publicans to every other business going - it will show that 100% of the money will go back into the businesses of Cavan.”

He says the initiative is something the local Chamber is most “excited” about. “We really want people to buy into this,” Philip added.

“It’s a brilliant initiative. For example, Letterkenny generates €7M annually from a similar scheme there and in Sligo, €750,000 was generated for local businesses. This just shows how successful our initiative can be here in Cavan.”

And, while the Chamber’s focus is currently on Christmas, plans are also afoot to have a St Patrick’s Day parade in the county town come March 2025. “We’re going to have a St Patrick’s weekend festival,” said Cllr Brady.

“The county town, like every other small town, should have a parade to celebrate Irish culture and all that is great about Co Cavan. We are looking for volunteers and we would love the local businesses to also come on board.”