News

Alan heads IFSA

Alan Cruite of Trinity Purchasing, part of the Avendra Group was elected Chair of IFSA 2021 – 2023 at the Annual General Meeting.. Conrad Greene of Stephen’s Catering cruite Equipment is the new Vice-Chair. Alan will succeed Patrick Clement who held the position of IFSA Chair since 2019.

Speaking following the AGM, Alan said:

“It is an honour for me to accept the Chair today but a hard act to follow as Patrick and the Team did such a great job over the last 2 years in very difficult times.

I am very excited about taking on the role and I know my fellow Board Members and the rest of the IFSA team will be there as always to support me.

As Chair one of my goals is to continue to promote IFSA’s Core Values and grow the membership so we can continue to leverage our collective strengths and resources to deliver a suite of benefits for our members and offer support to end users in the Foodservice Sector across the Island of Ireland.

Hoteliers Thank Government for Support

Hotel and guesthouse owners have welcomed the additional business and employment supports that were announced today by the Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe TD, elaina0421 and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Michael McGrath TD.

Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) President, Elaina Fitzgerald Kane, acknowledged the Government’s continued commitment to businesses most affected by public health restrictions. She added that the IHF looked forward to engaging with Government on the qualification criteria for the Employment Wage Subsidy Scheme (EWSS) so that nobody is left behind.

Thanking the Government for their recognition of the severity of the challenges being faced by businesses due to the latest restrictions, Ms Fitzgerald Kane commented: “The Government strategy of supporting sectors most affected has worked so far. We welcome the assurances in today’s announcement that no sector will be left behind and it will be vital that the scheme does not exclude any businesses. These latest supports will help businesses to survive during the tough months ahead, and, importantly, will safeguard livelihoods and keep teams together.

IMAX movie promotes Ireland

A new giant-screen documentary film called 'Ireland' will go on release in select IMAX and giant-screen theatres across the United States in February 2022. Narrated by Liam neeson1221 Neeson, the film has been produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films and will be sponsored by Tourism Ireland.

'Ireland' will celebrate our rich history, culture, arts and music, as well as our spectacular scenery. It will take audiences across Ireland, following writer Manchán Magan and others on an action-packed journey from Dublin to Belfast and from Kilkenny to Cong. Viewers will see breath-taking footage of places like the Cliffs of Moher, the Giant’s Causeway and the Skellig Islands.

Hotel refused gig permission

The company behind the Citywest Hotel, which is owned by private equity group Tetrarch Capital, has been refused permissio n to hold concerts at the venue despite pleading to An Bord Pleanála that the events would attract an older demographic than other music venues.

Live Nation, the US events promoter, had been lined up to manage concerts.

Cape Wrath, the firm behind the hotel, was refused permission at the beginning of this year by South Dublin County Council to hold concerts at the property.

The council rejected the plan because of concerns that the volume of traffic attending concerts could cause congestion on the surrounding road network.

Cape Wrath appealed the decision to An Bord Pleanála, which has also rejected the plans.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland told the planning watchdog it had concerns that extra traffic could adversely affect the safety of the national road network.

Shannon loses Philadelphia route

American Airlines will not resume its Philadelphia to Shannon route this summer due to continued delays in deliveries of new Boeing aircraft. shannonapt

The airline planned to resume transatlantic flights from Shannon in May but issues with the production of Boeing 787 Dreamliners means this will no longer happen.

American Airlines will also drop flights to Edinburgh and Hong Kong, and it won’t resume flights to Dubrovnik and Prague. The airline said it will fly full schedules to Dublin as soon as it is able.

A spokeswoman for Shannon Group confirmed that the Philadelphia route will not resume next year.