Drogheda & District Chamber Council
The newly appointed Chamber Council for 2020/21 are Robert Murray (President), Miriam Simon (Vice President), Breanndán Casey (Secretary), Ken Rooney (Treasurer), Shona McManus, Eddie Phelan, Geoff Fitzpatrick, Collette Farrell, Bridget Kerrigan, Mark Cassidy, Michael Gerrard, Paul Berrill, Peter Dolan, Tamara Howard, Steven Rice, and Alma Jordan.
Robert Murray, President
Head of Marketing,
First Citizen Finance
Robert has been working in retail financial services since 1999, when he joined Irish Permanent Finance – subsequently called Permanent tsb Finance after a merger in 2001 and now known as First Citizen Finance following a Management Buy-Out in 2012 by the Senior Management Team of Permanent TSB Finance.
First Citizen Finance provides competitive finance solutions to consumers and non-consumers across the Motor, Agri, SME Equipment and Commercial Real Estate sectors in the Republic of Ireland. Robert works nationally across both the Sales and Marketing divisions of the company, based in Drogheda.
Robert joined Drogheda Chamber in 2009 as a member and has been a Council member since 2017.
Your Chamber Council
Miriam Simon, Vice President
Growth Strategist, PTO.ie
Miriam Simon is founder of PTO.ie (www.pto.ie), a consultancy that specialises in trading & consumer strategy. An experienced Business Mentor with over 30 years experience working at board level within the Retail sector, alongside cross industry mentoring with Enterprise Ireland, Miriam helps CEO's and Business owners grow their business and get great results - at pace! Miriam has added tens of millions to the bottom lines of the businesses she has worked with, and as such is ranked by Linkedin as within the Top 1% for Retail.
In addition, Miriam is an accredited executive coach, has studied Corporate Governance and Strategy with the Institute of Directors, and is also advisor to Ireland's finalists for the SME Instrument Horizon 2020 programme, which has a strong track record of fund achievement..
Breanndán Casey, Secretary
Business Development Manager, The Mill
Breanndán Casey is the Innovation and Enterprise Manager at The Mill Enterprise Hub in Drogheda which was established to support startups and entrepreneurship in the greater Drogheda region. The original idea for The Mill emanated from Drogheda Chamber and we continue to successfully collaborate on a number of projects. The Mill’s current initiatives include the Illuminate Female programme with M1 Drogheda Chamber Skillnet and ‘The Fintech Corridor’ plan to develop a cross-border Fintech Cluster from Dublin to Belfast.
Ken Rooney, Treasurer
Regional Director, Capitalflow Finance
Ken has over 15 years Banking experience mainly involved in commercial & property lending at a senior management level. Qualified as a Certified Public Accountant in the late 1990’s, and have worked both in practice and industry. Ken also leads a wholesale and retail business, involved in the import and distribution of household products throughout Ireland and the UK.
Ken has been a Chamber Council member since 2012 and is currently Chairman of the Finance Committee.Michael Gerrard, Chamber Council
Social Media Consultant
Michael has been working in the media Industry for more than 30 years. In that time Michael has worked in Radio TV and Newspapers, local and National.
Still involved in the Radio Industry, he has his own business, Michael Gerrard Media. He helps companies with their digital marketing strategy and manages their Social Media platforms on a daily basis.
Bridget Kerrigan, Chamber Council
Bammedia
Bridget Kerrigan, is the founder and creative director at BAMMEDIA, a creative branding and web agency based in Drogheda, Co. Louth. After graduating from design college with qualifications in both Graphic Design and Digital Media, Bridget set up BAMMEDIA in 2006. Under her creative direction, Bammedia has carved out an extensive client base and built a reputation as a small yet impactful design studio, creating and developing some of the North East’s best known corporate, retail and tech brands.
Tamara Howard, Chamber Council
Tamara Howard Communications
Tamara is a brand & creative marketing consultant who founded her own Brand & Marketing agency Tamara Howard Communications. She has a diverse background having worked to deliver through-the-line advertising campaigns with some of the largest blue-chip Irish & International brands, as well as having exposure to start-up/challenger brands. She brings this full spectrum of knowledge to her vibrant book of clients.
Eddie Phelan, Chamber Council
Chartered Civil and Structural Engineer and Director at VCL Consultants
Eddie is a chartered Civil and Structural Engineer and managing director of VCL Consultants. He has operated the practice for the past 20 years providing consultancy services to the construction industry both locally and throughout Ireland. Eddie has been a council member of the Chamber since 2012 and was Chamber president from 2015-2017. Eddie originally hails from Kildare but has lived in Drogheda since 1995 and he and his family have been embedded in the community since that date.
Paul Berrill, Chamber Council
Associate, Berrill Kiernan & Associates
Paul qualified as a Chartered Accountant in 2014 working in a Big 4 Firm where he gained extensive experience across a myriad of different industries, including technology, manufacturing, distribution, pharmaceutical and retail.
Paul works with and advises businesses of all stages, including those in the growth and maturity stages and has an avid interest in start-up businesses. Paul is passionate about assisting and promoting local trade and enterprise.
Website Link: https://www.bkg.ie/
LinkedIn Link: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-berrill-3250b068/
Peter Dolan, Chamber Council
Centre Manager
Scotch Hall Shopping Centre
A successful and innovative business/marketing professional with a strong track record in delivering profitability and market share. Particularly effective in competitive/urgent business environments with an instinctive flair for creating and driving winning strategies. Solutions focused and persuasive as a leader and a passionate culture carrier for the organisation. Open and engaging preferring honest dialogue and debate as a collaborative team player.
Collette Farrell, Chamber Council
Droichead Arts Centre
Collette Farrell has worked in the cultural sector for the past 30 years. Starting out as an actress, she completed the Diploma in Theatre & Media Studies with the Abbey Theatre, and taught drama in the Gaiety School of Acting. She was General & Programme Manager of the City Arts Centre, Dublin, Producer for Calipo Theatre & Picture, Drogheda and in 2017 she became Director of Droichead Arts Centre. Collette co-chairs Drogheda Arts Festival, is a member of the Louth Creative Ireland, and has an Advanced Certificate in Management Practice and Entrepreneurship with Ulster University.
Steven Rice, Chamber Council
Big Wheel Marketing
Steven is the founder and CEO of Big Wheel Marketing (www.bigwheel.org), a marketing consultancy with offices in both Ireland and the United Arab Emirates. Since inception in 2015, Big Wheel has worked with over 60 clients in areas of expertise ranging from marketing strategy, video production, digital marketing technology, creative services and public relations.
Steven is also an international tourism consultant and has contributed to many projects in the areas of national tourism strategies, travel technology and marketing, and travel-related investments and private equity.
Previously, Steven was the Managing Director (Ireland) and Commercial Director (Europe) for online travel agent ebookers.com, and the former CEO of the Tourism Development Authority of the emirate of Ras al Khaimah, UAE.
Alma Jordan, Chamber Council
ArgriKids
Alma Jordan is the founder of AgriKids a multi-award winning social enterprise that has become a leader in farm safety education for children. Founded in 2015, its ethos to engage, educate and empower children to be farm safety ambassadors.
With a background in marketing and communications, Alma is passionate about entrepreneurship and social enterprise.
‘Our greatest legacy is to leave behind a world in better shape than when we entered it’.
Shona McManus,
CEO, Osborne
Qualified to MBA, Shona McManus is a highly accomplished, respected and recognised global recruitment business leader who has been listed for the Staffing Industry Analysts Global Top 100 Women in Recruitment and the Top 100 Staffing Professionals in Europe for the last 5 consecutive years. Since taking the reins of Osborne in April 2013, Shona’s innovative, authentic and purposeful leadership has resulted in the growth and transformation of Osborne into the multi-award winning international recruitment firm we know today. Shona proudly served as President of Drogheda & District Chamber from 2018-2020 and continues to be an active Board and Council member. She also serves on a number of Boards as Board Director and is involved in Regional, National and Government committees and strategic work groups and projects.
Mark Cassidy, Chamber Council
Mark Cassidy Solicitors
PRIVACY POLICY DROGHEDA & DISTRICT CHAMBER INTRODUCTION This Privacy Policy details the privacy practices of Drogheda & District Chamber of Commerce. We have focused on implementing the practices of Fairness, Transparency and Accountability to protect the privacy of our customers, clients and all who visit our website www.droghedachamber.ie In accordance with The General Data Protection Regulation (EU2016/679) and The Data Protection Act 2018, Drogheda & District Chamber of Commerce is identified as a Data Controller of your personal information. There may be occasions when we are also identified as a Data Processor. As an Organization data protection and privacy is of the utmost importance to us and we respect your trust in us, to use, store and share your personal information. In this Privacy Policy we explain how we collect personal information about you, how we use it and how you can communicate with us, regarding the use of your data. All personal information we collect about you will be processed in accordance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (EU 2016/679) and The Irish Data Protection Act 2018. This Privacy policy relates to personal information which is collected through the website of Drogheda & District Chamber of Commerce and does not extend to personal information which is collected on a manual basis or to non-automated records. WHO ARE WE? We are Drogheda & District Chamber, located in Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland. As the leading business organisation in Drogheda, our mission is simple, to promote, engage, support, and ultimately make business better for our members and the wider community. We are a volunteer led organisation and for over 125 years Drogheda & District Chamber has been the beating heart of the business community. How we collect information about you When you browse our website www.droghedachamber.ie, we may ask for personal information such as your name, email address. We may also collect information about you when you are on the internet such as the website you came from, IP address, domain types, i.e., .co.uk and.com), your browser type the country where your internet service provider is located, the pages of our site that were viewed during your visit and search terms that you used. This information is only used for our own research and to improve our service to you. We will only collect your personal information when you provide it to us, when you email us, send an enquiry through our “Contact Us” page and when you subscribe to any of our services. Drogheda & District Chamber use the social media platforms of Facebook, and Twitter to keep our members informed of events and services which we consider may be of interest.. Our website uses “Cookie” technology. A cookie is a little piece of text that the server places on your device when you visit our website. They help us make the site work better for you. For further information on our use of Cookies, please refer to the Cookie Policy on www.droghedachamber.ie What Personal Information Do We Collect? When you visit our website, we collect particular information related to your device, such as the IP address, referring website, details of the pages your device visited and the time that your device visited our website. Drogheda & District Chamber respect your right to privacy, and we will only collect personal information when you provide this to us. When you submit an email enquiry, subscribe to our mailing list or newsletter or register for an event, or complete any of our on line forms we will process your personal information for specific purposes which allow us to provide and deliver our services to you. The categories of personal information that we collect from you include, names, email addresses, postal addresses and phone numbers, transactional information (including invoices due and paid). How We Use Your Personal Information Drogheda & District Chamber will process your personal information for a variety of legal purposes, including but not limited to the following: • To provide services to members and potential members • Networking opportunities • To respond to any communications, you might send to us • To send you email alerts and newsletters that you have opted in to receive • Educational events • Promoting members • Lobbying • Start Up Business Assistance • Collaboration • Process membership transactions (including transaction confirmations and invoices • Send members industry updates, event/news/notifications, and administrative communications • Manage members use of our services and to respond to enquiries and comments and provide membership services and support Use of Non-Personal Information We gather statistical and analytical information collected on an aggregate basis of all visitors to our website www.droghedachamber.ie. This non-personal information encompasses data that cannot be used to identify you. Google Analytics We use Google Analytics to analyse the performance of www.m1skillnet@droghedachamber.com. The information Google Analytics gathers using our website’s cookies, generate generic reports about the use of our website. Further information regarding our use of Google Analytics is detailed in our Cookie Policy Our Legal Bases to Process Your Personal Information We detail below our identified legal bases which allow is to process your personal information: • Processing is necessary for the performance of a Contract to which the Data Subject is party or to take steps at the request of the Data Subject prior to entering. The Contract • Consent • Legal Obligation • Legitimate Interest of the Data Controller • Public Interest If we process personal information based on your Consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time. This does not affect the lawfulness of processing which took place prior to its withdrawal. Sharing of Personal Information There may be occasions when it is necessary for us to share your personal information with our external working Partners and Stakeholders for the purposes of providing our services to you. We detail below some of our external Third Partners; however, this is information is not an exhaustive list. • Web Hosting Company • Consultants • Saas Providers • Email Platform • Payroll Provider There may also be occasions when in accordance with Independent Statutory Legislation we are obligated to share personal information. Under certain circumstances, we may be required to disclose your personal information in response to valid requests by public authorities, including to meet national security or law enforcement requirements. Is Personal Data Transferred outside the EEA? We do not knowingly transfer personal information outside the EEA, however our CRM system is Hub Spot and is hosted in Europe. How we keep your Personal information Safe Drogheda & District Chamber are committed to the protection and security of your personal information. We use a variety of technologies and procedures to protect your personal information from, “unauthorised use, and access, accidental loss, unlawful destruction, alteration, unlawful disclosure. As effective as security practices are, no physical or electronic system is entirely secure. We cannot guarantee the complete security of our data base or can we guarantee that information that you supply will not be intercepted while being transmitted to us over the internet. We have implemented strict internal guidelines to ensure that your privacy is safeguarded at every level of our organisation. We will continue to revise policies and procedures and review our systems and we will implement additional security features as new technologies become available. Any transmission of personal information is at your own risk. When we receive your personal information, we use appropriate security measures to prevent your personal information from being compromised in any way. When you contact us to ask about your personal information, we may ask you to identify yourself, this is to help protect your personal information. How Long Do We Keep Your Personal Information? We process and retain personal information to meet our legal and regulatory requirements and for as long as necessary to enable Drogheda & District Chamber to provide our services to our members. It is not our practice to retain personal information for longer than is considered necessary. Third-Party Sites Our website may contain links to other Third-Party sites. When you click on one of these links you are visiting a website operated by someone other than Drogheda & District Chamber and the operator of that website may have a different privacy policy. We are not responsible for their individual privacy practices; we encourage you to investigate the privacy policies of such Third-Party Operators. Children We do not knowingly collect personal information from children under the age of 13. If you are under 13, do not access, use, or provide any personal information on www.droghedachamber.ie or through any of its features. If we learn that we have collected or received personal information from a child under 13, without parental consent, we will delete that information. Do We Use Cookies Yes, we use a variety of Cookies. A Cookie is an element of data that a website can send to your browser, which may then be stored on your system. Our website uses these Cookies to collect information which enables us to improve our service. You have the option to either accept or refuse these Cookies and know when a Cookie is being sent to your computer. If you choose to refuse our Cookies you may not be able to use some portions of our Service. Full details of our use of Cookies will be found in our separate Cookie Policy. Your Personal information Rights In accordance with The EU General Data Protection Regulation and The Data Protection Act 2018 you are afforded the following rights in certain circumstances. However, not all “Rights” are absolute, and exemptions may apply. Right of Access: You have the right to obtain confirmation from us whether or not we process personal information about you and where that is the case, access to the personal data, including the purposes of the processing and the categories of personal data concerned. The recipients or categories or recipients to whom the personal information have been or will be disclosed. You may also submit a written request for a copy of personal information you believe we may be processing about you. Upon such a written request, Drogheda & District Chamber will verify the validity of the request for security purposes. Your subject access request will be responded to within thirty days, However, where the request is unreasonable, or onerous such requests will be responded to within a two-month time period. Right to Rectification: You have the right to the rectification of inaccurate personal information about you without undue delay. Right to Erasure: You may ask us to delete your personal information, however this is not an absolute right and any such request will be considered in connection with our legal obligations and under the legal framework of the EU GDPR Right to Restricting and Objecting: You have the right to restrict or object to us using your personal information. Right to Data Portability: Upon your written request, where possible we can share a digital copy of your personal information with you or another organisation. How to contact us Should you have any questions regarding how we process your personal information please send an email to brenda@droghedachamber.ie You can also address your correspondence The Data Protection Compliance Officer, Drogheda & District Chamber, Dublin Road, Drogheda, Co Louth, Ireland. The Data Commissioners Office can be contacted at www.dataprotection.ie Changes to this Privacy Policy We will make changes to this Privacy Policy from time to time, particularly when we make changes regarding how we process your personal information and expand our services. Details of any changes made will be posted here so that you can see what information we gather, how we might use that information and in what circumstances we may disclose it. By continuing to use our site after we post any such changes, you accept and agree to the privacy policy as modified. Updated - December 2020