Chamber president seeks broader reach

Patrick Mellett isn't a typical chamber of commerce president. The Irish architect doesn't wears a necktie and cycles everywhere. He is what the French call un créatif. That may be why the board of the Chambre de Commerce et d'Industrie Franco-Irlandaise asked him if he'd be interested in a two-year term at the head of the chamber.

After his election last October, Mellett convened 14 people from Irish groups in Paris - including the Embassy, the Centre Culturel Irlandais, the GAA, Enterprise Ireland, Irish Eyes magazine and the Green Room website - at Ireland House in the rue de Miromesnil.

"To be more dynamic, the chamber needs a broader base," Mellett explains. "It's of mutual benefit to everyone to diversify potential contacts and bring in new viewpoints. The GAA, for example, has a network in 17 countries; that's an incredible advantage. The centre culturel also has a broad reach."

Mellett once thought the chamber had become irrelevant, but he changed his mind. "As I got involved, I realised it has a very important function of pulling people together," he says. He has relied on Veronica Comyn, the secretary general of the chamber for the past 25 years, whom he calls its "DNA".

Mellett also wants to bring the chamber closer to its sister chamber in Dublin, headed by management consultant Philippe Cosson. Together, the groups muster close to 250 members. Mellett is organising gala dinners in Paris and Dublin next autumn, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Paris chamber and the 30th anniversary of the Dublin chamber. All members are invited to both dinners.

For the first big event of Mellett's presidency, "we zoomed in on the roots of the Irish who left for the continent 400 years ago". They discovered close to 1,500 French families of Irish descent in the Bottin Mondain social register. Of 260 guests, 85 were high-society French people redis- covering their Irish origins.

Mellett believes the chambers should be more active in campaigning for legislation that affects business. "I also decided that we need to re-brand the chamber, with a new logo and presentation." Ronan MacErlaine, an Irish graphic designer recommended by Enterprise Ireland, has been contracted to come up with a new design.