Connacht Tribune
Galway Hospitality Group is best in class for customer service
The Connacht Hospitality Group has recently achieved the Failte Ireland Service Excellence Award across all its properties and is the only hospitality group in Galway to boast this accolade. In order to achieve the “Fáilte Ireland’s Accredited Service Excellence Award” a business must demonstrate that a minimum of 75% of the management and staff have completed the Fáilte Ireland Service Excellence Programme.
The Connacht Hospitality Group is a Galway based family owned business, comprising of three hotels, The Connacht Hotel, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year, the Forster Court Hotel, and a 20-bedroom boutique style hotel called Residence Hotel located on Quay street. Also included in the group are three licence premises, the Award winning An Pucan, Bar 1520 located in the Heart of the Latin quarter and the popular HYDE Bar & Gin Parlour on Forster street and a 24-Hour Gym and leisure centre called Active fitness.
In the ever-competitive world of the Irish tourism industry top class customer service is now more important than ever. Ireland is not seen as a low-cost destination, yet Ireland needs to compete with equal product at a lower cost. The opportunities for “points of difference” are slim. One key opportunity which must be taken and advocated for is “the provision of best in class service experiences” the outcomes of which will benefit the visitor, the business and Ireland Inc.
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- 1520 Bar
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- An Pucan
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- Forster Court Hotel
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- The Connacht Hotel
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- The Hyde Bar
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- The Residence Hotel
Martina Kerr Bromley, Fáilte Irelands Head of Operations, Enterprise, Food & Hospitality, added: “We are delighted that the Connacht Hospitality Group has achieved the Fáilte Ireland Service Excellence Award which is a great testament to the staff, management and teams of the Hotels, Bars, Restaurants & Fitness businesses across the group. The Service Excellence Programme is making a real difference on the ground, not only to visitors and their overall experience, but also to staff and management who can see real value in going the extra mile, in not only meeting but exceeding the expectations of our visitors. The Service Excellence Programme is a very valuable tool for any business, it sets the business apart and establishes a position as best in class in terms of excellence in customer care, and ensuring that the customer journey from start to finish is as good as it can be. Our thanks to Mairead and the Wild Atlantic Way team in Galway for their commitment to driving the national Service Excellence initiative forward, and our congratulations to the Connacht Hospitality Group on this great achievement in being awarded the Fáilte Ireland Service Excellence Award”.
Group General Manager Wayne Neilon said “We are delighted to have received the Failte Ireland Service Excellence Award for our properties. This is an excellent initiative from Failte Ireland supporting front line customer service teams. The feedback from our teams on the training provided was very positive and the training was delivered in a very professional and pragmatic way that allowed the team to practically apply their learnings in their day to day roles. As a company we are very appreciative of the training support received from Failte Ireland. We are proud to employ over 350 staff in the city and we pride ourselves on our passion for taking care of our team and who then in turn, take care of our customers.
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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.
Families queue up for school’s offer of free house
West has lower cancer survival rates than rest
Galway minors continue to lay waste to all opponents
Gardaí and IFA issue a joint appeal on summer road safety
Marathon Man plans to call a halt – but not before he hits 160 races
