Dublin Chamber of Commerce


Dublin Chamber of Commerce is the largest chamber of commerce in Ireland with over 1,300 member companies. Since its foundation in 1783, Dublin Chamber of Commerce has sought to "bring business people together to share ideas, to form a single voice for the local business community and to ultimately connect and grow business". The membership of Dublin Chamber employs an estimated 350,000 employees from across more than 50 industry sectors, ranging from sole trader businesses to multinational corporations. This means that Dublin Chamber is the most representative and broadly-based business group in the Greater Dublin Area.
Dublin Chamber has offices at 7 Clare Street, Dublin 2. As of 2019, the Chief Executive of Dublin Chamber is Mary Rose Burke and the President is Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland.

Origins

Dublin Chamber is one of the oldest such organisation in Europe. The Chamber was founded in 1783, having been preceded by other collective bodies including the Guild of Merchants, which dated from the mediaeval period, and the Ouzel Galley Society, established at the beginning of the 18th century. Dublin Chamber's formation followed a weakening of the merchant guild system which left an opening for bodies which advocated free trade. Much of the focus of the Chamber in its early years was on abolishing impositions and opposing restrictions on export trade.
The creation of Dublin Chamber led to the formation of other chambers of commerce around Ireland, including Waterford, Londonderry, Limerick and Cork. By 1819 there were 19 chambers of commerce operating in Britain and Ireland - a figure which rose to more than 90 by 1900. The first British federation, the Association of Chambers of Commerce, began in 1860 and included the Irish chambers. Following independence, Chambers in Ireland became members of the Association of Irish Chambers of Commerce, a body now known as Chambers Ireland.

Notable past presidents