Press Release

Challenges and opportunities ahead - says Blanchardstown Chamber

There was a time not all that long ago when the area known as Blanchardstown was a small residential suburb of Dublin, today it’s more like a city within a city.

With a population of over 70,000, one of the largest retail centres in the country, the National Aquatic Centre, and a rapidly growing business community, it’s now one of the most dynamic areas in the region.

Since it’s inception in 1996, Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce has been a major driving force in the progressive development of the area, and continues to play a vital role in improving the business and community environment.

“Blanchardstown is an incredibly vibrant area,” says Gail Eames, Chief Executive of Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce.  “It has undergone significant economic and social changes over the last decade and is now one of the most attractive areas for businesses, from SME to Multinational, looking to invest in the region.”

The Chamber is able to point to a growing list of multinational companies who have located in the area including, IBM, Xerox, Bristol Myers Squibb, 3COM, Symantec, EBay and Lucent Technologies.  The emphasis on technology is no accident, and the emerging influence of the Institute of Technology Blanchardstown, will play a key role in the continued growth of this sector within the greater Blanchardstown area.

Eames points to the imminent launch of ITB’s Learning and Innovation Centre - which will include incubation units, training facilities and R&D space - as being crucial to this development.  “It’s a wonderful facility to draw on right on our doorstep, particularly because it will focus on knowledge based industries,” she says, going on to explain how collaboration between industry and academia is a proven course to generating innovative and crucially, commercially successful new technologies.

Of course, another significant challenge facing Blanchardstown Chamber of Commerce at the moment is finding a solution to the local transportation problems, but the Chamber of Commerce is taking a pro-active approach in addressing current difficulties.

“We already enjoy excellent road and rail links and close proximity to Dublin Airport, but there are outstanding issues to do with traffic congestion,” she says.  “In response to a transport survey conducted by the Chamber, Gail hopes to bring together key stakeholders such as the County Council, the County Development Board and local businesses for roundtable talks with the objective of developing a strategic plan to alleviate the problem.  The first of these is a seminar that will be hosted by Westlink Toll Plaza on 26 April.”

This year Eames hopes to increase Chamber membership and networking between members.  “We’re on a major membership drive at the moment,” she says.  “As the ethos of the Chamber is to promote business in Dublin 15 and with over 1,800 companies in the Chamber catchment area, Eames is building a comprehensive Chamber of Commerce package that will highlight the immediate benefits available to members on joining.

Eames is also in the process of launching a new forum aimed at women in business.  “I feel that women face very different challenges than men and can experience difficulty in accessing opportunities to network effectively,” she says, “Remedying that is what the new programme is all about.”