Group of 14 people posing for a photo in front of a stone wall with a large green plant. The group is smiling and dressed in casual and business casual clothing.

Board and Team

Run by Clonmel, for Clonmel

The BID is governed by a board of directors. Under the Local Government (Business Improvement Districts) Act 2006, at least two-thirds of the directors must be ratepayers in the BID area or their representatives, and the local authority is entitled to two seats: one director selected by the elected members of Tipperary County Council and one selected by the Council's Chief Executive. Board membership is otherwise open to any ratepayer paying the BID levy.

Clonmel BID Board of Directors

  • Patrick O'Gorman - Chairperson - O’Gorman Brannigan Purtill & Co. Limited

  • Michelle Aylward - Company Secretary - County Tipperary Chamber

  • Frank Moran - Director - Moran’s Pub

  • Suzanne O'Gorman - Director - O’Gorman’s Pharmacy

  • Lisa Blackett - Director - Curtains & Blinds

  • John Kennedy - Director - John Kennedy Motors

  • Councillor Siobhan Ambrose - Director - Mayor of Clonmel Borough District (Elected Representative)

  • David Lyons - Director - Lyons Takeaway

  • David Kirwan - Director - Artisan Frames

  • Aoife Hackett - Director - Sean Hackett’s Electrical

  • Jonathan Cooney - Director - Director of Housing and Clonmel Borough District (Council Representative)                         

The Clonmel BID TeAM

Headshot of a woman with shoulder-length brown hair, smiling, in front of a bookshelf with binders.

May Stokes

May Stokes is CEO of Clonmel BID, the business improvement district for Clonmel town centre. She leads the delivery of the BID programme on behalf of the town's levy-paying businesses, working with Tipperary County Council and other local authorities, business owners and partners to make Clonmel a stronger place to trade, visit and invest.

May brings 24 years of marketing experience spanning brand development, luxury hospitality, destination marketing and digital performance, in both agency and client-side roles in Ireland, London and Sydney. She holds a degree in Communications and a postgraduate qualification in Digital Marketing, along with further qualifications in AI marketing.

Originally from Birr, Co. Offaly, May has called the Clonmel area home for 14 years and lives in Kilsheelan.

CEO

Contact May

The people who made it happen

Clonmel BID exists because a group of local business people put in years of voluntary work to bring it about.

The BID Proponents Group, chaired by Patrick O'Gorman, included:

  • Noel Buckley (Clonmel Town Team)

  • Suzanne O'Gorman (O'Gormans Pharmacy)

  • Imelda Kelly (Bennigans Bar & Restaurant)

  • Billy Butler (Clonmel Credit Union)

  • Frank Moran (Moran's Pub)

  • Phil Kehoe (The Hygiene Hub)

  • Nuala Hickey (Hickey's Bakery)

  • David Lyons (Lyons Take Away)

  • Ann Marie Breen (Tivoli Cards)

  • Michael Boyle (The Talbot Hotel)

  • Richie Gleeson (Gleeson's Pub)

  • Aoife Hackett (Sean Hackett Ltd)

  • Joe Mulcahy (Mulcahy Construction)

  • Michelle Aylward (County Tipperary Chamber)

  • John Kennedy (John Kennedy Motors)

  • David Kirwan (Artisan Frames)

  • Eileen Counihan (EMC Pharma Consult)

  • Lisa Blackett (Curtains & Blinds)

  • Pat O'Gorman (John O'Gorman Menswear)

All of this was unpaid. Each member gave their own time, alongside running their own businesses, to study how BIDs operate elsewhere, develop a proposal that Clonmel's ratepayers could support, and make the case to fellow traders ahead of the vote. The outcome — 482 votes to 85 — reflects both the scale of that effort and the confidence the town's business community has in its own future.

Clonmel BID was founded in that spirit, and it is this spirit in which the BID will continue: business people working together for the good of the town.

Governance

Clonmel BID CLG operates under an adopted Code of Corporate Governance.

Get in Touch

Whether you have a question, an idea, or just want to say hello, feel free to reach out—we’re here to help.