Mullingar Chamber has announced its 26th president is James Bourke, of Mullingar Autos, who was officially appointed following the 2024 AGM of the chamber last Wednesday.
James Bourke takes over from outgoing president Allyson English. At 28 years of age, it is widely believed that James is not only the youngest President of Mullingar Chamber, but likely the youngest President in any chamber throughout Ireland.
Addressing the crowd at Wednesdays AGM, James spoke of his belief in the organisation and how pivotal this period is for the town. He also highlighted the importance of the role that the chamber holds in being the link between the various businesses we represent and Westmeath County Council. “I believe this is a wonderful time for Mullingar Chamber, we have a number of large projects in the pipeline that will be of huge benefit to our members and indeed the wider Mullingar community. We have recently created the position of CEO to run our town centre office and support our work. We also have a lot of great projects about to launch that include a revamped Mullingar Voucher scheme, Career expo, Chamber Awards and big plans for our eagerly anticipated Christmas markets, which is not to be missed. Over the next few months I plan to examine how we engage with our members and what we can do to enhance that relationship.
Finally I would like to highlight the huge amount of work done by Allyson English as outgoing president. I’m taking the chamber over in an extremely strong position, as a result of her hard work. Also I would like express my sincere gratitude to the number of board members who are resigning after a number of years with us, in particular Shirley Kiernan, who was a wonderful vice president.
Although I understand there is a huge amount of work ahead in my new position but I am extremely confident as I am supported by a fantastic executive board.”