Dublin Chamber of Commerce

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Dublin Chamber of Commerce is one of the oldest such organisations in Europe and traces its origins back to the Autumn of 1695 when the Dublin shipping company of Ferris, Twiggs and Cash sent their vessel Ouzel Galley on an important trading journey to the near-Eastern Seas. With provisions, a crew of 37 men, and three officers aboard, the vessel set sail. Having been gone for over three years, and with no news of the ship and crew, the insurance policy on the ship was cashed in on the assumption that all had been lost at sea.

Five years after leaving the fishing village of Ringsend, now a city suburb, the Ouzel Galley sailed back up the River Liffey causing some consternation, not least with the ship's crews' wives, some of whom had remarried. According to the Captain, the vessel had been commandeered by pirates and nobody could decide the ownership of the booty aboard. In 1705, the Ouzel Galley Society, was set up to sort out the issue. The society was successful at providing a forum to discuss and lobby on business-related issues. The Society changed its name to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce in 1783.

Today, Dublin Chamber of Commerce continues to represent the interests of businesses, both large and small, in Ireland's capital. It now has over 1,600 member companies and 3,000 members in total.