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The Minister for Rural and Community Development has said the opening of ten new walking trails as part of government plans to double the total number of trails around the

country is a win-win situation for both landowners and walkers.

 Minister Michael Ring announced the addition of the new trails to the Walks Scheme operated by his Department, covering hundreds of kilometres in counties Clare, Tipperary, Sligo, Wicklow, Galway, Kilenny, Laois and Leitrim.

 There are currently 39 trails covered by the Walks Scheme, involving 1,962 participant landowners and farmers, but it is planned to increase the number to 80 trails.

 

 

Conference ambassadors who helped generate €10m for Cork’s economy this year have been honoured amid renewed calls for delivery of the city’s long-awaited events centre.

 The Cork Convention Bureau (CCB), a public-private partnership which promotes the region as a destination for business tourism, meetings, and conferences, said the delivery of the 6,000-capacity venue on South Main St could see the city treble the value of business it could generate annually.

 CCB chairman Seamus Heaney made his comments as the CCB paid tribute to 36 ambassadors at its annual Cork Conference Ambassadors programme awards.

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Sodexo has won the Best French Company in Ireland Award for the second year in a row at the 27th Annual Ireland-France Business Awards, jointly organised by the France Ireland Chamber of Commerce in Dublin (FICC) and NetworkIrlande. 

This year’s Awards were held at the prestigious Cercle National des Armees in Paris on Thursday 28 November, in front of an audience of 180 Irish and French business leaders. Mr Pat Breen, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Market and Data Protection presented the Best French Company Award to Caroline O’Loughlin, finance director, Sodexo Ireland, who accepted on behalf of the company and pictured with H.E. Stéphane Crouzat, Ambassador of France to Ireland and Margot Slattery, global chief diversity & inclusion officer, Sodexo and the incoming president of the France-Ireland Chamber of Commerce.

Hotel transactions were primarily driven by “big ticket” Dublin hotel sales this year as  investors, focused on high-quality Dublin hotels, which accounted for two thirds of total transaction activity in 2019.

 Major Dublin deals included the €134 million sale of The Marker (which will be rebranded as Ananatara), the €116m sale of the Conrad Dublin, the €50 million sale of Portmarnock Hotel & Golf Links and the €40 million sale of The Central Hotel.

 Three of these four transactions involved new capital entering the Irish hotel sector, with Archer Hotel Capital (Conrad), Deutsche Finance International (Central) and Northland Properties from Canada (Portmarnock), all making their first purchases here.