News

€3.2m for Trails and Walkways

Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys has announced €3.2m funding for the country’s trails, walkways, cycleways and blueways. heatherhumphreys

A total of 173 projects will be carried out countrywide under the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme.

The funding will support small-scale local projects with grants of up to €20,000 each.

Some of the successful projects in Cork include the redevelopment of disability access in Island Wood, while Kerry will receive funding for the development of public amenity space at the Tralee Bay Coastal walkway/cycleway.

Limerick will receive almost €175,000 for trails, walkways and cycleways across the county.

Brennan plans May opening

John Brennan does not expect to reopen the Park Hotel in Kenmare, Co Kerry until May or June due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions. brennans

“I don’t expect we’ll be able to open before June 1st,” Mr Brennan told The Irish Times, adding that it could be May 1st in a best-case scenario.

Mr Brennan does not expect the hospitality sector will be allowed reopen before St Patrick’s Day, and probably not until after the Easter holiday period in April has passed, to prevent a surge in infections as happened last month as restrictions were lifted for Christmas.

In addition, Mr Brennan said it would then be a number of weeks before the Government moved the country down from the current Level 5 to Level 2 restrictions, which would allow for inter-county travel.

“It’s not commercially viable to reopen without inter-county business,” he said. “Reopening a hotel is an expensive business. You need advance reservations and there are a lot of staff costs before you turn a euro. We get a lot of people visiting from Cork, Limerick and Dublin.”

Mediation urged in Market dispute

A High Court judge has urged parties in a dispute over ownership of Dublin’s Iveagh Market building to consider mediation. iveagh0120

Mr Justice David Barniville said he “strongly encouraged” those involved to consider resolving the dispute through mediation.

He made the remarks when adjourning an application to have a case over the matter admitted to the fast-track Commercial Court.

Dublin hotelier and publican Martin Keane, and three of his companies – Slatterys, Traditional Iveagh Market and Iveagh Market Hotels – are suing Arthur Edward Rory Guinness ,otherwise Arthur Rory Edward Iveagh, whose ancestor, the First Earl of Iveagh, built the market in the Liberties more than 100 years ago.

Hall joins Training Team

Former Failte Ireland executive and now management consultant Mary Hall is part of a team which will deliver programmes at the new Professional Trraining Centre.

Mary has has wide-ranging experience in the field of Management and Supervisory Development. Hallmark Training recognizes that in the past few difficult years discretionary spending has resulted in less provision of training for staff. Now, the current environment and sophistication of guests require more professional staff if organizational growth and success are to be achieved. Her distinguished career includes roles in accommodation management, many years as a specialist trainer with CERT and Fáilte Ireland, roles in management development with Cornell University and consultancy project overseas.

Professional Training Centre officially launched two new programmes in Communications and Corporate Executive & Management training.

Drinks Ireland looks to tourism reopening

A estart of international tourism will cupport Visitor Centres in 2021, according to Drinks Ireland. drinks

The industry group says that Irish drinks visitor attractions are 90% dependent on international visitors, and that such attractions will be dependent in the short-term on the maximisation of domestic tourism. The organisation said that it will innovate to attract new types of visitors and will move to add value with smaller group, more bespoke, higher end experiences, and that as international travel opens up to a greater extent, the industry will also be looking to increase footfall from visitors from abroa

In response to Bord Bia's newly-published "Export Performance and Prospects 2020/21" report, Drinks Ireland, has released a 10-point drinks industry outlook for 2021.

The other points of outlook are :