Junior Chamber Limerick is one of the city’s most dynamic organisations, encouraging personal and professional development as well as community engagement among its members.

The branch—which is just one of many in the world’s largest organisation of its type for 18 to 40 year olds—is currently co-ordinated by president, Olive Duffy.

Olive, originally from the Ennis Road and working in accounts for the HSE, said that junior chamber offers many opportunities to the city’s young people.

“I had been working in Limerick but moved to Dublin. When I was moving back I found I didn’t know that many people because a lot of my friends had moved away. I wanted to do some charity work as well and then I saw an advert in the paper for Junior Chamber. I went along and I haven’t looked back since,” she said.

“There are all different kinds of people involved, from all professions so there are lots of opportunities for networking and advice. It’s also a very open and friendly environment.

You get out of it what you put in. You can get training in things like leadership, public speaking and time management. One of our most recent courses was on presentation skills and a lot of the topics are very helpful to young professionals.”

Olive added that JCI has a strong focus on entrepreneurship too and at national level, it runs an award for best business plan.

“We have links with Limerick Chamber as well and hope to be involved in the regeneration plans for the city. It’s a combination of personal development as well as learning new skills and making a contribution. It’s a lot of fun too; there are lots of social events. We went away to Dingle for the weekend recently and there are national and international conventions and an annual gala. There’s always something going on.”

“The local organisation has four major projects a year,” Olive explained, “The first is the ‘Young Person of the Year’ awards and we nominate candidates in six different categories. The winners can go on to national or even international level. Last year, local nominee Derek O’Keefe went on to win in the science/innovation category at international level. That was a great achievement for Limerick as well as Ireland”.

“Another annual event is the Easter Egg project and the eggs were sponsored by Tuscany’s Bistro in Annacotty. We brought the eggs out to the children in the special needs centre in Lisnagry. That was great fun as well. On July 4, we are holding our annual charity cruise in aid of the Niall Mellon Township Trust Fund. That is our nominated charity for the year and the cruise goes to Garrykennedy—where there will be some food and entertainment—and will take in the scenic views on Lough Derg. Tickets for that are currently on sale.”

She added that members also collect toy donations for Adapt House at Christmas time.
Olive—who is also a keen harpist—has been a member of Junior Chamber Limerick since 2005 and enjoys her new responsibilities.

“A big task for me is trying to raise the profile. 10 years ago, we had about 50 members; we now have around 20. When I was in Dublin, it wouldn’t have entered my head to get involved with something like junior chamber. I always wanted to do volunteer work but it has also helped me become more confident. I was very quiet before but I find that doing things like public speaking have really helped so it’s great on several levels. I would really encourage people to consider joining.”

Junior Chamber Limerick meets on the first Wednesday of the month in the Pery Hotel at 8pm. For more information on tickets for the charity cruise or the organisation, email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 087-3162251.

Name: Olive Duffy.
Occupation: Accountant/President of Junior Chamber Limerick.
Location: Murroe.
Favourite thing about Limerick: The regeneration of the city centre; there’s a real buzz around the city with all the growth and development.
Worst thing about Limerick: The negative publicity it gets although that is changing thankfully.

Comments (0) »

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Email

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment