A meeting has being arranged for the River Island Hotel with the aim of forming a development group under the working title: Castleisland Chamber Alliance.
The meeting, the first of three public information gatherings, will be held on Tuesday, September 15th at 7-30pm and all business, cultural and sporting organisations are being invited to attend.
A small group of Castleisland business people met up with local economist, Helen O’Connor who advised them on how to go about the process.
Mayor of Killarney Municipal area, Cllr. Bobby O’Connell got involved and has called the meeting to give everyone their say in the future direction of the town.
“I have called the meeting and I’ll be glad to help in any way I can in the setting up of the body and I’ll step back from it once it’s up and running.
Castleisland Chamber Alliance is only a working title for the moment until the new structure sets its own stamp on it,” said Mayor O’Connell.
“Anyone with an idea of how the town could or should be developed into the future will be welcome at this meeting. We’ll have speakers from Kerry County Council and people from other towns who have gone down this route with great success,” he added.
There is broad support from the business and sporting organisations in town for the proposals:
“I think it’s going to be a very important step for the town at this point. There are so many great groups all doing their own thing here. If we can add cohesion to all of this and create a chamber alliance that will draw us all together – I think that’s a great idea,” said Jeremy Burke, Tomo Burke Electrical.
“It’s great that we’ll have one body to represent the interests of the people and unite the various groups in town. That will provide a solid focal point for all development here,” said Bill Costello, Costello Shoes.
“Anything that will be an advantage to the town is bound to be a positive development. If it’s working well in other places there’s no reason it shouldn’t work here. I’m sure there will be a broad welcome for the idea,” said Carmel Prendiville, Fashion World and Joi.
“This could be just what the town needs. The more people involved the better. Schools , sports clubs, retired groups, business people.
All local groups are especially asked to attend and have an input to this municipal process which will give Castleisland a voice and enable the area to create its own action plan,” Peter Browne, Browne’s Bar.
“At An Ríocht we’ve seen the benefits of combining with the Rugby club to run the HercOileán Island Warrior Challenge.
I think the idea of setting up a Chamber Alliance is a wonderful one and, in fairness, it’s something that was needed for a while now,” said Kate McSweeney, manager An Riocht Athletic Club
