PAUL ‘HONOURED’ TO TAKE CHAMBER CHAIN

KILLARNEY Chamber of Commerce and Tourism’s key strength is making new changes without altering what’s important. Killarney is a town that speaks for itself on the international stage with a reputation as one of the world’s leading tourist destinations and the job of the chamber is to ensure this spinoff interlinks seamlessly with the town’s hospitality sector and wider business community.

Muckross native, Paul O’Neill, is the new President of Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism having succeeded Kate O’Leary and Paul’s determined to continue Kate’s good work.

“As vice-president over the past few years, I witnessed firsthand the incredible amount of work that Kate has put into the job and, while I’ve also seen the stress and hard work the job entails, it’s a role I’m very much looking forward to,” he said.

Paul works as a property management manager with Munster Joinery and it was through his involvement with Park Place Apartments that he first joined the chamber over six years ago. Paul explained that his first task is to help maintain and further develop the existing rude health of the organisation and admits 2017 is going to be a challenging year.

“It’s going to be a very important year with the opening of Killarney House and Gardens which the chamber will be very keen to assist and maximise. The Rugby World Cup bid also has huge potential and we’ll be putting all our efforts into that. The area of accessibility and ‘tourism for all’ is another project we will be focusing on. This is run in conjunction with Fáilte Ireland and Kerry County Council. There’s huge potential here as it has a genuine offering to people with special needs and the older generation as it basically incorporates a huge cohort of the people and is something we’re exciting about developing,” said Paul.

Killarney Chamber of Commerce and Tourism is aware of the many positives that help make Killarney great; however, not to the extent that it’s ever likely to rest on its laurels. Paul outlines one area where he feels greater improvements can be made.

“We do so many things right and there’s a great working relationship with the business community which we’re told is unique.

“I guess an area I would like to progress a little is our festivals. This is something that we already do brilliantly but I want to progress them further into more family focused events and be seen to genuinely give back to our visitors who are the life and blood of the town.

“For now though, it’s a great honour to be president of this organisation and I’m really looking forward to working with everyone involved.”

Photo by Don MacMonagle Pictured at Eagle’s Nest Mountain, Paul O’Neill, new President of Killarney Chamber of Tourism & Commerce, accepts the chain of office from outgoing president Kate O’Leary on New Years Eve.