A yearlong celebration of Carrick on Shannon’s 400th anniversary is being planned for next year. An open meeting for businesses, community organisations and the people of the town, hosted by Carrick Chamber, will be held in The Bush Hotel on Thursday, April 19th at 6pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and hear about the exciting line-up that’s planned. We’re also looking for your ideas.

These celebrations afford a unique opportunity to promote Carrick and for everyone in town to get involved in a once-in-a-lifetime event.

A huge range of events, starting with the St. Patrick’s Day Parade will showcase what’s best about Carrick. Included will be cultural and drama, sporting, music and educational events.

A major coup has been achieved by the organising committee  securing the  Connacht Fleadh for the county town next summer. Almost 20 events are confirmed at the moment and work is ongoing to secure more.

A large group comprising Chamber members, county council representatives, Enterprise Board, Heritage Group, Leitrim Tourism, voluntary organisations and individuals have been working for some time to coordinate matters.

The event coincides with ‘The Gathering’, a year-long celebration in Ireland in 2013 designed to invite ‘home’ many of our 70 million Diaspora. Leitrim Tourism will be playing its part promoting the event in the UK and US.

Carrick’s first St. Patrick’s Day Boating Parade had a large turnout of boats and crews. Various branches of the IWAI, Carrick Rowing Club, Carrick Craft, Emerald Starline, jet skis, RIBs and water skiers all took part. The event also caught the attention of the national media featuring on the RTE news and on online outlet The Journal.ie. Their article entitled ‘Does Carrick-on-Shannon have Ireland’s most unusual St Patrick’s parade?’ had over 6000 views at time of writing. The article also featured local businessman, Gerry McCormack, who was raising money for Haiti by being suspended in a glass box 180 ft above the River Shannon.

A group of happy prize winners relax following the St. Patrick’s Day Boating Parade in Carrick. Also included are Ray Gannon, Carrick Chamber; Gerry Faughnan, President Carrick Chamber, and Terry Casey, Carrick Chamber. (Pic Keith Nolan)

Gerry Faughnan, Chamber President, accompanied by Chamber colleagues Ray Gannon, Monica Christie, Eilish Beirne and Terry Casey, presenting 1st Prize, sponsored by the Oarsman Restaurant, to Sham Hanifa representing the large crew of “The Jamestown Barge”. This entry was a joint effort by The Cottage Restaurant, Archway Products, Pinestone Ltd and The Arch Bar. (Pic Keith Nolan).

2nd Prize, sponsored by Cryans Hotel, went to “Hastia” crewed by David and Laureen O’Dowd and family. Pictured are Gerry Faughnan, Chamber President, presenting a voucher to Laureen O'Dowd. Also in photo are Terry Casey, Monica Condron and Ray Gannon, all of Carrick Chamber; David and Margaret O'Dowd; St Patrick ( John Conlon) and 'Rover' Conlon. (Pic Keith Nolan)

3rd Prize sponsored by Nauty Bits went to “Alanah” crewed by Mark Healy and family. Also in photo are Terry Casey, Monica Condron, Gerry Faughnan, Eilish Beirne and Ray Gannon, all of Carrick Chamber (Pic Keith Nolan).

Local businessman, Gerry Mc Cormack, of Proglass Windscreens, is undertaking a 48 hour fast with a difference!! He hopes to raise sufficient funds to help a rebuilding project in Haiti dealing with the devastating 2010 earthquake damage.

On Friday, 16^th March, The skyline of Carrick will be altered to accommodate Gerry in his glass cube, which will be hoisted 50 metres above the Shannon at the Moon River car park. At High Noon on Friday, Gerry will enter the box via the roof hatch. Then a crane, sponsored by Mr Terry Hunter of ICCH, will elevate him to the (hopefully) clear blue skies where he will remain until Sunday afternoon.

Carrick Chamber was approached to help with the project and were pleased to support such a good cause. We’re delighted that Gerry will have the best seat in the house to view the two St. Patrick’s Day Parades we have organised, one on terra firma and the IWAI Boating Parade which follows immediately afterwards.

While Gerry conducts his fast in the box a team of dedicated volunteers will carry out a pavement collection around the streets of Carrick from 10am to 6pm daily. Gerry is hoping to raise in the region of € 5,000 to fund a return trip to Haiti this coming May. This will be his third trip to participate in Haven’s Build It week.

Haven volunteers travel to Haiti and spend their week on the ground there building houses for families displaced after the horrific earthquake of 2010. This year’s trip will be a joint venture between the Haven foundation and Oxfam. More details of the Build It week’s can be found on Haven’s website www.havenpartnership.org.

If anyone would like to volunteer their time to help out with this event over the weekend please contact Gerry at 086-2526374. This event would not have been possible were it not for the co-operation and support of the local Gardai, Leitrim County Council and Carrick on Shannon Chamber of Commerce.  On behalf of Haven and Gerry we encourage everyone to come out to support this very worthy cause.  It should prove to be an interesting spectacle over the town for St. Patrick’s weekend.

Gerry Mc Cormack pictured in Gonaives, Haiti, at the opening of a community centre in April 2011. He was out there on building projects in April and October, 2011.

Carrick Chamber, who organise the traditional Parade, is delighted to announce this additional, colourful, event in conjunction with local branches of the Inland Waterways Association of Ireland (IWAI).

To complement the festive atmosphere a number of bars will be running live entertainment over the holiday weekend.

The Chamber is asking all businesses, local groups, schools, sporting organisations, and all and sundry, to come out and take part in our Parade.

St. Patrick’s Day is the traditional start to the town’s tourism season, and the fact that it’s on a nice, long, weekend should add to everyone’s enjoyment.

Prizes will be awarded in the following categories:-

1. Best Overall Entry – Sponsored by  Gannons Eggs and Poultry;

2. Most Creative Entry – Sponsored by Cox’s Pharmacy;   

3. Best Children’s Entry – Sponsored by Mulvey’s Kids Kingdom;

4. Best Youth entry – Sponsored by Carrick Cineplex;

5. Best Window Display – Sponsored by Glancys SuperValu.

The Parade will be on Saturday, March 17^th starting at 12.45. Assembly from 12 at the Circular Road for floats and vehicles. Marching entries please assemble at the Girls’ School, on the old Dublin Road.

Parade entry fees are nominal:- non commercial groups and floats are free. Commercial entries are €30 for the first vehicle and €25 for each subsequent entry. Chamber members get one free entry. Phone Monica or Grace at the Chamber office for more details at 071 9622245.

The Parade on the Shannon will have representation from multiple branches of the IWAI including Boyle River Branch, Power Boat Branch, the Carrick Branch, and the Corrib Branch. The Rowing Club will also be taking part.  There will be cruisers, fishing boats, ribs, speed boats and jet skies and even St Patrick will appear as a figure head on one of the vessels.  Some of the boats will have musicians. If any boat owner or novelty boat owner would like to take part they can just turn up on the morning beside Butler’s Marina and there will be marshals organising the event. Boats will be gathering from 10.30 beside Butler’s Marina and the parade will take place at 2pm approx, immediately after the traditional Town Parade.

Anyone interested in viewing the water parade should be at the quay wall at 2pm This is the first parade that has been held on the water and it’s guaranteed to be a great event.

We would like to thank all the Chamber members who have supplied the prizes and all those who take the time to provide entertainment for the rest of us. A special word of thanks to Chamber member, David O Dowd, for organising the Water Parade with his colleagues in the IWAI and the Rowing Club.

Music events over the weekend will be in An Poitin Still, Cryans Hotel Regatta Bar, Murtaghs Bar, The Venue, Andersons Thatch Pub, The Landmark Hotel, Club 360 at The Landmark Hotel and Dunnes Bar.

Carrick Chamber delegation heading in to address December's council meeting to request a 15% reduction in rates. L-R: Fintan Cox, Chamber Retail Officer; Terry Casey; Gerry Faughnan, President, Carrick Chamber. (Pic Keith Nolan).

In a direct appeal to the local authority for a 15% cut in Rates, a delegation from Carrick Chamber addressed last Monday’s (5/12/11) council meeting. Terry Casey, a local accountant and Chamber member, addressed the monthly council meeting on a range of issues affecting businesses with huge implications for their profitability and sustainability. However, one of the biggest issues facing businesses is the annual rates bill. Terry also expressed the Chamber’s condolences to Cllr. Sinead Guckian and her family on the recent sad loss of her father, Michael Guckian. Also in the delegation were Gerry Faughnan, Chamber President and Fintan Cox, Chamber Retail Officer.

The following is the full text of the address.

“I come before you today in the light of another really difficult year for small businesses throughout the county. Unfortunately for some it is now a matter of survival. Businesses have seen a catastrophic drop in their turnover. We have seen a decreased foot-fall on the high streets, due to people using Out of Town Shopping Centres, and due to the massive drops in the general spend due to job losses and massive reductions in peoples pay and government entitlements.

“To survive on a smaller turnover businesses have cut their costs by reducing wages, packaging and postage, advertising, electricity and other costs. Rents have dropped dramatically and some business premises in Carrick of around 2,000 square feet that were being rented for around 900 Euro a week during the boom are now going for as little as 200 Euro a week. To add to the woes of the Retail Sector the Dept of Finance has come up with the crazy proposal to increase VAT to 23% in this week’s Budget. I fear that like a few years back this will push consumers towards Enniskillen and could have a devastating effect on business in Leitrim.

“The one cost that businesses have not being able to bring down is rates. Two of our members have annual rates Bills of 5,500 and 6,500 Euro respectively. Their turnover has dropped so drastically that in the first case the 5,500 Euro rates Bill represents a wipe-out of 3 months profit for the business, And the case of the 6,500 Euro rates bill represents a wipe-out of 4 Months of profit. I could give you 30 or 40 similar cases in Carrick alone not to mention the rest of the county.

“A rates bill which has some part based on what a company turns over and not just on square footage and type of business would be much more equitable. Councillor Martin Kenny has previously proposed a similar approach, so companies that can afford to pay more will pay more. A lot of these businesses are at the end of their tether and many may close in the next 12 months

“The Chamber is very appreciative of all the council has done for the town. The upgrade of the street pavements and street lights, The upgrade of the Quays, The Riverside Walk, the new footbridge and many other improvements have made Carrick-On-Shannon arguably the most attractive medium sized town in the west of Ireland.

“The Chamber thinks the potential investment coming into the town with the 400 Year Celebration in 2013 will be a massive economic boost to the region and could well return a lot of businesses to good profitability after this deep recession.

“But to get to 2013 we need to survive next year first and the Chamber proposes a temporary, one year only, 15% reduction in rates for 2012. I believe such a measure would be revenue neutral for the council, as this drop in rates would go a long way to keeping many businesses open that would otherwise have closed. And as you know you can’t collect rates off closed businesses.And then come 2013 we have no issue with the rates being brought back to 2011 Levels. But of course if you want to permanently reduce the rates we have no issue with that either. I thank You”.

l-r:- Bill Donohoe, Key Account Manager, Bord Gáis Energy with his wife Maeve and their children Jack and Paul; Santa; Gerry Faughnan, President Carrick Chamber (Pic Keith Nolan)

Carrick Chamber is delighted that Bord Gáis Energy continues its support for the town’s Christmas Lights. The company will continue to power the festive lights in a sponsorship deal just concluded. Santa was on hand to do The Big Switch On last Saturday.

L-R: Terry Casey, Role Skillnets (lead sponsor); Gerry Faughnan, President, Carrick Chamber; David McWilliams; Bernadette Gallagher; Colm McGrath, Vice-President Carrick Chamber; Ray Gannon, membership officer, Carrick Chamber. (Pic by Keith Nolan)

Carrick Chamber asks shoppers to ‘Keep Your Town in Business, by Keeping Your Business in Town’

Carrick Chamber is asking everyone to be mindful of how important it is to ‘Shop Local’ in order to support local employment and businesses. They also highlighted a range of events taking place in the Town Centre in the run up to the Holiday period. Additionally, the Chamber announced their additional extensive efforts to support trade in the town.

Chamber president, Gerry Faughnan stated: “We are reviving a slogan, as its message stands the test of time:- ‘Keep Your Town in Business, by Keeping Your Business in Town’. A lot of local people work in outlets in Carrick, and these businesses are often the first ones called on for support by community groups and clubs organising fundraisers.

“We have put in a range of supports for businesses in addition to organising the town Christmas lights. We have just taken delivery of our new MyCarrick.ie ‘Shop Local’ shopping bags to really get the message out there. Our new MyCarrick.ie shop window stickers are going up around town. They will enable direct contact from smartphones and drive traffic to our MyCarrick.ie site, and especially its ‘What’s on’ and ‘Offers’ sections. It’s really important for businesses to make use of these sections of the MyCarrick.ie site as they are attracting a huge amount of ‘hits’. We have secured agreement from the council to waive parking fees in the town centre from December 8th to January the 8th which will be a big help to everyone. Additionally, several businesses have indicated that they will be doing special offers on selected days”.

He also emphasised that “Carrick on Shannon is one of the premier shopping Meccas in the region. There’s a great choice of keenly priced goods, whether in the larger retailers or shopping in the niche outlets in the relaxed ambiance of the town centre”.

Stressing the Chamber’s support for a host of activities taking place in the Town Centre over the Christmas shopping period, he said many businesses have pulled out all the stops to provide good value, and entertainment, for shoppers.

The following events will be held in the Town Centre:

Christmas Farmers Markets in The Market Yard Centre.

These will be held every Thursday from 10-2 pm in December.

Seasonal carol singing with loads of great artisan foods from local producers.
Winter Market at The Dock. December 10th and 11th from 12 – 5PM.  Promises to be a magical day out for all the family. There will be a lively mix of stalls with artisan crafts, local cuisine, delicious mulled wine, live music and more.

Christmas Market at the Courtyard. Up to 20 various stalls and free Santa. Friday 16th December from 5-9pm and Saturday 17th and Sunday 18th from 2-7pm.

For a full list of Events and Offers, check out www.MyCarrick.ie.

(L-R)Carrick Chamber President Gerry Faughnan, Monica Christie and Grace Cowley (Chamber Staff), Bernadette Gallagher and Terry Casey

The purpose of the expo is to highlight and promote to consumers and business owners alike,  the extensive range and quality of businesses in Leitrim. Admission is free.

Carrick Chamber will be there promoting mycarrick.ie. We will have plenty of brochures and sign-up forms for the website. Monica and Grace will be there from 4pm until 7pm to answer any queries you may have – or, indeed, to note any suggestions!

MyCarrick – reach for the sky!

Carrick on Shannon made national headlines this week (Wednesday 5^th October), this time for the launch of a new marketing campaign to bring more visitors to the town.  While obviously banking matters are still to the forefront of the attentions of the local Chamber of Commerce, over the last few months they have brought together over 120 businesses relying on tourism into a stimulus project and launched a savvy campaign entitled My Carrick, your Carrick on Shannon.  Gerry Faughnan, President of the Chamber of Commerce explains ‘this project is about setting out our stall as a great tourism destination, we have a wonderful product and enthusiastic businesses who have joined forces to market our wares under one umbrella brand and website www.mycarrick.ie’ .  Tourism is our second biggest employer in Carrick on Shannon and with this investment of over €60,000 we want to ensure it will grow from strength to strength’.  

The project leads the way as a community embracing new technology to get its message across. With over four in ten people now owning smartphones Carrick on Shannon is positioning itself as a wifi friendly town and the promoters invested in a special mobile website which gives visitors information on the move and the use of QR (scanable quick response) codes helps give the project a smart marketing edge.  A 16 page Ultimate Guide to Carrick on Shannon was also launched which will be followed by a Facebook App and online advertising campaign and competition next week. 

Today, the launch of the initiative saw the project logo mycarrick.ie take to the water with the help of Carrick Rowing Club emphasising the ‘on’ the water asset of the town with a webcam on the Landmark Hotel picking up the activity.  A novel Sean Nos flash dance performed by Sean Nós ar an tSionann on the quayside is hitting You Tube and a My Carrick menu with foods from within a 10 mile radius of the town gave a flavour of the wonderful culinary choices on offer in the town. 

Tourism development agencies and the local authority back the project and the Chamber’s investment was matched euro for euro by funding from the local LEADER programme.  Colm McGrath, Chamber Treasurer explains ‘literally every cent raised by the Chamber over the years is going into this project. This is definitely the biggest contribution ever made by our Chamber to the economic wellbeing of our town.  This has to work!’   The Chamber stresses the importance of the input of the tourism bodies into the project. ‘We are working closely with Fáilte Ireland and Waterways Ireland and have linked into their ‘Lakelands and Inland Waterways brand and locally with Leitrim Tourism and Leitrim County Council. We are delighted that we have secured funding from the Leitrim Development Company through the Rural Development Programme Ireland 2007-2013 and by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in Rural Areas.  They could not have been more helpful.’  

Enquiries: Gerry Faughnan, President, Carrick on Shannon Chamber  087 286 5540

Orla Casey, Momentum Marketing 086 2606304