Connacht Tribune
Award winning Galway Hospitality Group wins flurry of awards
One of Galway’s newest hospitality group “The Connacht Hospitality Group” has won a flurry of awards in recent months. A growing family business based in Galway City and compromises of three hotels. The Connacht Hotel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The Forster Court Hotel, a stylish, 50-bedroom hotel located in the heart of Galway City. The Residence Hotel, a 20-bedroom boutique style hotel located on Quay Street and three licence premises; the multi award-winning An Púcán located on Forster Street, 1520 Bar located on Quay Street and HYDE Bar & Gin Parlour which hosts the largest Gin collection in Ireland. The group also operates a 24-hour gym and leisure centre called Active 24 Fitness & Leisure.
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- Best Hotel Bar in Ireland was awarded to The Residence Hotel, left to right: Brian Greer, James O’Neill, Eveanna Ryan and Julia Curran
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- Hyde Bar and Gin Parlour won Best Marketing Campaign in the World for their 2018 launch. Left to right: Hector O Heochagain, Sorya Power, Eveanna Ryan, Main Sponsor and Barry O’Donoghue
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- The Connacht Hotel was recently awarded Best Hotel Garden in the Galway Tidy Towns competition. Left to right: Kieran O’Malley, Emma Dillon Leetch and Eveanna Ryan.
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- The Forster Court Hotel won Best 3 Star Hotel in Connacht, left to right: Breda Fahey, Barry Donovan, Eveanna Ryan, Sarah Comer, Kenneth Lydon and Shane McElroy
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- An Pucan was awarded the Best Sports Experience award, left to right: Hector O Heochagain, Tom Joyce, Conor Moloney, Colm O’Reilly, Adam Rogers, Ciana Ni Dharail and Padraig Naughton
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- The Hyde Bar
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- The Connacht Hotel family friendly bedroom
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- The Connacht Hotel family friendly bedroom
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- 15290 Bar at the Residence Hotel.
Most recently they took home multiple awards at the “The Irish Hotel Awards which were held in Galway earlier this month. Amongst the Galway winners on the night were The Forster Court Hotel which was named the “best three star hotel” in Connacht and 1520 Bar at The Residence Hotel was named as the “Best Hotel Bar in Connacht “and also took the national crown of “Best Hotel Bar in Ireland” beating off stiff competition.
Eveanna Ryan Group Sales and Marketing Manager for the Connacht Hospitality Group said “We are thrilled to receive this recognition from the Irish Hotel Awards, it’s a reflection of the fantastic work by the team in The Forster Court and The Residence Hotel. We were delighted to be nominated given the calibre of hotels in the region, so these are awards we are truly proud of”
The Forster Court Hotel located in the East Village of Galway, open just under two years ago. Its modern décor, friendly team and fantastic location coupled with one of Galway’s most popular bars HYDE Bar and Gin Parlour has quickly made a name for itself and is currently one of the top 5 rated hotels in Galway on TripAdvisor. HYDE Bar & Gin Parlour which is due to celebrate its first birthday in May has also had a fruitful first year in terms of awards. The stylish Gin Emporium won big at the prestigious Irish Pub Global Awards when it received the award for “Best Marketing Campaign in the World” for 2018 launch.
The Residence Hotel the heart of the Latin Quarter with its funky room décor is a must stay when visiting Galway city. It is also home to 1520 Bar, described as a “medieval themed neighbourhood bar” which embraces all that is best about Galway with a warm welcome to visiting guests and locals alike. The eclectic interiors include plenty of corners with a mix of portraits, posters and paraphernalia dotted throughout. 1520 was also named “Best Newcomer in Connacht in the 2018 Irish Pub Awards”
The flagship property in the group, The Connacht Hotel is one of Irelands most popular family friendly hotels, coupled with a bustling corporate trade has also seen it’s fair share of accolades. The hotel has been a major advocate for the use if the Irish Language and in 2018 was awarded the overall winner of the “Gradam Sheosaimh Uí Ógartaigh” run by Gaillimh le Gaeilge, it’s Galways bilingual business awards which recognises and celebrates companies and organisations in Galway that use the Irish Language in their day to day business. The Connacht Hotel was also recently awarded the “Best Hotel Garden” in the Galway Tidy Towns competition. The development of the gardens at the Connacht has been embraced as not only aesthetic feature but hold really environmental functions. The hotel was recently awarded an Eco-label by Green Hospitality for its Environmental Action Plan focusing on Energy, Waste and Water Management.
The multi award winning An Púcan is renowned for its live sport, daily music sessions, great food and fantastic outdoor space which have all been featured amongst their recent accolades. The team at An Púcan was recently recognised at the Irish Pub Global Awards as the “Best Place in Ireland to watch a match” with 12 tv’s including two large screens and an electric atmosphere during games. And having won the “Most Innovative Bar in the West” for the past two years at the Irish Pub Awards” boasting the title of the most followed bar in Ireland on social media it’s easy to see why.
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Significant state investment is required to address ‘shocking’ inequalities that leave cancer patients in the West at greater risk of succumbing to the disease.
A meeting of Regional Health Forum West heard that survival rates for breast, lung and colorectal cancers than the national average, and with the most deprived quintile of the population, the West’s residents faced poorer outcomes from a cancer diagnosis.
For breast cancer patients, the five-year survival rate was 80% in the West versus 85% nationally; for lung cancer patients it was 16.7% in the west against a 19.5% national survival rate; and in the West’s colorectal cancer patients, there was a 62.6% survival rate where the national average was 63.1%.
These startling statistics were provided in answer to a question from Ballinasloe-based Cllr Evelyn Parsons (Ind) who said it was yet another reminder that cancer treatment infrastructure in the West was in dire need of improvement.
“The situation is pretty stark. In the Western Regional Health Forum area, we have the highest incidence of deprivation and the highest health inequalities because of that – we have the highest incidences of cancer nationally because of that,” said Cllr Parsons, who is also a general practitioner.
In details provided by CEO of Saolta Health Care Group, which operates Galway’s hospitals, it was stated that a number of factors were impacting on patient outcomes.
Get the full story in this week’s Connacht Tribune, on sale in shops now, or you can download the digital edition from www.connachttribune.ie. You can also download our Connacht Tribune App from Apple’s App Store or get the Android Version from Google Play.
Galway 3-18
Cork 1-10
NEW setting; new opposition; new challenge. It made no difference to the Galway minor hurlers as they chalked up a remarkable sixth consecutive double digits championship victory at Semple Stadium on Saturday.
The final scoreline in Thurles may have been a little harsh on Cork, but there was no doubting Galway’s overall superiority in setting up only a second-ever All-Ireland showdown against Clare at the same venue on Sunday week.
Having claimed an historic Leinster title the previous weekend, Galway took a while to get going against the Rebels and also endured their first period in a match in which they were heavily outscored, but still the boys in maroon roll on.
Beating a decent Cork outfit by 14 points sums up how formidable Galway are. No team has managed to lay a glove on them so far, and though Clare might ask them questions other challengers haven’t, they are going to have to find significant improvement on their semi-final win over 14-man Kilkenny to pull off a final upset.
Galway just aren’t winning their matches; they are overpowering the teams which have stood in their way. Their level of consistency is admirable for young players starting off on the inter-county journey, while the team’s temperament appears to be bombproof, no matter what is thrown at them.
Having romped through Leinster, Galway should have been a bit rattled by being only level (0-4 each) after 20 minutes and being a little fortunate not to have been behind; or when Cork stormed out of the blocks at the start of the second half by hitting 1-4 to just a solitary point in reply, but there was never any trace of panic in their ranks.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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GARDAÍ and the IFA have issued a joint appeal to all road users to take extra care as the silage season gets under way across the country.
Silage harvesting started in many parts of Galway last week – and over the coming month, the sight of tractors and trailers on rural roads will be getting far more frequent.
Inspector Conor Madden, who is in charge of Galway Roads Policing, told the Farming Tribune that a bit of extra care and common-sense from all road users would go a long way towards preventing serious collisions on roads this summer.
“One thing I would ask farmers and contractors to consider is to try and get more experienced drivers working for them.
“Tractors have got faster and bigger – and they are also towing heavy loads of silage – so care and experience are a great help in terms of accident prevention,” Inspector Madden told the Farming Tribune.
He said that tractor drivers should always be aware of traffic building up behind them and to pull in and let these vehicles pass, where it was safe to do so.
“By the same token, other road users should always exercise extra care; drive that bit slower; and ‘pull in’ that bit more, when meeting tractors and heavy machinery.
“We all want to see everyone enjoying a safe summer on our roads – that extra bit of care, and consideration for other roads users can make a huge difference,” said Conor Madden.
He also advised motorists and tractor drivers to be acutely aware of pedestrians and cyclists on the roads during the summer season when more people would be out walking and cycling on the roads.
The IFA has also joined in on the road safety appeal with Galway IFA Farm Family and Social Affairs Chair Teresa Roche asking all road users to exercise that extra bit of care and caution.
“We are renewing our annual appeal for motorists to be on the look out for tractors, trailers and other agricultural machinery exiting from fields and farmyards,” she said.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App
Download the Connacht Tribune Digital Edition App to access to Galway’s best-selling newspaper.
Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
Or purchase the Digital Edition for PC, Mac or Laptop from Pagesuite HERE.
Get the Connacht Tribune Live app
The Connacht Tribune Live app is the home of everything that is happening in Galway City and county. It’s completely FREE and features all the latest news, sport and information on what’s on in your area. Click HERE to download it for iPhone and iPad from Apple’s App Store, or HERE to get the Android Version from Google Play.
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