Our Mission

The mission of our Chamber is to harness the resources and goodwill of all stakeholders in Castlebar so that the town is an attractive place for you to start-up and / or expand your business and to become the best you aspire to be, for yourself, your family, your employees and your community.

Castlebar wins the Rising Star Award of 2019

Tom Dowling, Chair of the judging panel of the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Town Awards:

“My colleague judges and I were very impressed with the excellent presentation on the day of judging and also the level of top-class support, active participation and endorsement, by a large number of key town influencers who were in attendance.

We were convinced by the town’s demonstration of a sustained fight-back in its efforts to be a strong capital town and a key regional influencer. We were very impressed by the progressive approach of the County Council and the local Chamber of Commerce. We also believed that the excellent future plans, its top class recreational facilities and visitor attractions, its excellent hotels, restaurants and retail businesses all combined to make Castlebar a great Rising Star winner in the Bank of Ireland National Enterprise Town Awards.

Castlebar is certainly a town with a bright future.”

Officers

President

Bernard Hughes

Sales Manager Connaught Telegraph (Celtic Media Group)

Bernard is honoured to hold the position as current Chamber President in Castlebar since 2020 and has been involved with Castlebar Chamber in various roles since 2016. He strives to represent the members with a voice for business progress and development in Castlebar, which has proved an interesting challenge during Covid.  His vision for the Chamber is to support all Castlebar businesses working together to develop Castlebar as the ideal location to shop, work and live in.  Bernard is Sales Manager for the Connaught Telegraph newspaper and media, which is also part of the Celtic Media Group of newspaper titles. He holds BA Honours Degree in English from NUIG.

Vice-President

Wilson Bird

General Manager Breaffy House Resort

Wilson held the position of President of Castlebar Chamber in 2016-2018 and a number of roles prior to this within the Chamber since first joining in 2012. One of Wilson’s highlights during his presidency was successfully bringing the ice rink to Castlebar and increasing the footfall within the town. With an education in Hotel Management Wilson has over 2 decades of management experience in hotel management.

Treasurer

Caroline Gordon FCCA CPA

Proprietor of Caroline Gordon Accountants

Chartered Certified Accountant & Certified Public Accountant

Caroline is the proprietor of Caroline Gordan Accountants based in Swinford. She joined the committee in 2015.

PRO

Gerard Kelly

Gerald is a graduate from GMIT and had the pleasure to start working with the Castlebar Chamber of Commerce in 2019. In 2020 Gerard was elected as PRO. Whilst working with the Chamber he has helped promote various businesses in Castlebar.
Networking & Social Events Officer

John Mulroy

Manager Mulroy’s Londis & Circle K 

John served as President of Castlebar Chamber from 2018- 2020 and held several roles over 4 years prior to this. During John’s presidency Castlebar won the Rising Star Award in 2019 which is a prestigious award that is given to Castlebar for its outstanding town. With a degree in Business Management, John heads the Mulroy’s Londis group of Circle K Service Stations in Castlebar.

Chair of Castlebar Enterprise Committee

Anne Conlon

Founder of All About Sales & Conlon Talent Development

Since 2018, Anne has chaired the Castlebar Enterprise Town Committee and was honoured to be presented with the prestigious Rising Star Award in Kilkenny on behalf of the committee and town. She was President of Network Ireland Mayo from 2018- 2020 and held the National Sponsorship role for Network Ireland in 2018. With a Masters in Adult Learning & Development and a Masters in Science Digital Marketing and Media, Anne is a leading Sales Strategist working with businesses internationally.

Vice-Chair of Castlebar Enterprise Committee

John Caulfield

Managing Director at Caulfield Business Consultancy Ltd

John’s current consultancy business involved him in projects with a variety of national and international organisations. His most recent role was a second term as Interim CEO of the Road Safety Authority (RSA). His prior working career had been with Baxter Inc., a Global Healthcare company, where he held a variety of leadership positions in Operations and Human Resources Management at international level. He has extensive experience in business strategy, organisation design and development, business process re-engineering, employee engagement, mentoring and public relations. He is a Fellow of the CIPD and a member of the Institute of Directors. He has been actively involved in several volunteering initiatives with The Atlantic Economic Corridor (AEC) Business Forum, Mentor Mayo, the GAA, Mayo General Hospital and a number of charitable trusts. He is a member of the Enterprise Committee of the Castlebar Chamber.

Committee Member

Michael Gill

Head of Business, Humanities & Technology GMIT

Michael is a committee member and has been since 2017.

Committee Member

Kenny O'Brien

Co-Owner of Blue Property Sales & Rentals

Kenny is the co-owner of Blue Property Sales & Rentals specialising in the sales, lettings, and the management of commercial and residential properties in the Mayo area. He is a serving member of the committee since 2015 and he served as secretary from 2015-2017.

Committee Member

Anne King

CEO First Choice Credit Union Ltd

Anne has worked across First Choice Credit Union in various roles to now serving as CEO. With assets of €228 million and five branches, First Choice, with Head Offices based in Castlebar, has over 30,000 members across Co. Mayo. First Choice Credit Union is a community based financial cooperative.

Anne holds numerous qualifications including QFA, CUA, CUG, APA and a Diploma in Financial Services and is currently a director of both Metamo, and the Credit Union Managers Association.

She joined the committee in 2015.

Secretary

Ronan Byrne

Ronan works in the Chamber office in Linenhall as the Secretary.

He is a business graduate of GMIT Castlebar. He has recently returned from Canada after spending two years working in International Banking sector.