Eoin Gavin (right), managing director of Eoin Gavin Transport and president of Shannon Chamber pictured with outgoing Chamber president Stephen Keogh, managing partner of Sellors LLP, and Helen Downes, CEO, Shannon Chamber. Photograph by Eamon Ward
SIXMILEBRIDGE HAULIER, Eoin Gavin has been appointed as the new President of Shannon Chamber.
A director of Shannon Chamber since 2018, Eoin succeeds outgoing President Stephen Keogh, the managing partner of Sellors LLP. The founder and managing director of Eoin Gaviin Transport will serve for a two year term.
Managing Director of Dromoland Castle Hotel, Mark Nolan has been appointed as Shannon Chamber’s vice president.
In 1998, Eoin founded the transport haulage company but the Gavin family have been involved in the industry for over fifty years. The company now exports/imports products for a wide range of customers in diverse sectors to markets in Ireland, the UK, Europe and worldwide.
Eoin served as President of the Irish Road Haulage Association for two terms (2011 to 2013 and 2013 to 2015), during this time he served on two working groups of various government departments: finance, transport, revenue, and environment, established by the then Minister for Finance, which delivered a fuel rebate for the haulage industry and the complete overhaul of the road tax system for trucks, bringing Irish hauliers’ cost base in line with the rest of Europe.
He has also worked with Limerick County Council on an EU-funded project for linking Foynes Limerick port to other strategic ports in Europe and creating credible trade routes between similar ports in Europe.
As a member of the Chamber’s Transport Committee, he played a key role in lobbying for new transport links between Ireland and mainland Europe, post Brexit. He also called for changes in the processing of customs documentation to alleviate the delays experienced by hauliers and freight forwarders in transporting goods from Ireland to the United Kingdom in early 2021 and appeared before the Oireachtas Committee for Transport and Communications to present the case for change. He was also a member of the Chamber team that lobbied for changes in the funding structure for regional airports to aid recovery from the impact of COVID-19 on the aviation sector.
CEO of Shannon Chamber, Helen Downes believed the appointment of Eoin was “natural progression in his tenure as a board member. His guidance and contribution as a director have been invaluable and he has a vastly experienced track record at leadership level.
Thanking outgoing president Stephen Keogh for his untiring work for the Chamber since 2020, Ms Downes said that Mr Keogh’s tenure marked the first time a Chamber president held office during a pandemic when no direct interface with Chamber members was possible, yet it was a most productive two-years with many key achievements.
