John takes on Chamber President role

AIB Bank Manager John McSweeney has hit the ground running as the new President of New Ross & District Chamber of Commerce, promising to do what he can to support local businesses through the chamber during his tenure.

The new, New Ross & District Chamber of Commerce chamber board was elected recently in New Ross.

Mr McSweeney is a Mallow, County Cork native who has worked with AIB since 1986. He said he is looking forward to the next two years in his role as chamber president in what he described as an exciting time for the town.

Mr McSweeney said: ‘We are very lucky in that there are a huge number of things happening in the town.

‘ The bypass is the biggest thing that will influence the future of the town, but there is also the arrival of broadband, a gas pipeline, advance factories, the Greenway, the fantastic public realm spaces and all the tourism activities the council are promoting. If you went to any other town they would be lucky to have one of these going on.’

Mr McSweeney said he looks forward to working with businesspeople from across the district throughout his tenure.

‘ There are fantastic opportunities for businesspeople in terms of the bypass.

‘Some of the older businesses can look in terms of whether or not they are performing as well as they can be and if they aren’t how we, in the chamber, can help them. They can look at how they present their premises, their customer service and their products.’

He said many businesses have invested a lot of money in their shops in recent years.

‘What we want to do from a chamber perspective is to encourage businesses to look at themselves and how they benchmark themselves against the best in class, to put New Ross on the map. Why haven’t we got more places doing food downtown from 5 p.m. for instance? There are a lot of people talking about what the town needs but they are looking for other people to do it for them.’

He encouraged business owners to think outside the box, adding that even though the closure of Sports Savers on South Street was a blow to the town, it is also an opportunity for a new business to open, creating employment. ‘It is a prime site in the town centre,’ he added. ‘Attitude is critical to ensure we make New Ross an enjoyable place to do business and to live. You won’t be able to change everyone’s attitudes, but if everyone portrays a positive attitude it will eventually drag everyone on board.’