KILKENNY/DUNDALK BREWERIES TO CLOSE

Guinness manufacturer Diageo has announced it is to close its brewing facilities in Dundalk and Kilkenny with the loss of up to 250 jobs. The company intends to rejuvenate its St James's Gate Brewery in Dublin city and invest €650m in the historic site. It also revealed plans to develop a new brewing facility close to Dublin, but the exact location of the new facility has yet to be announced. It has been widely reported that the new site is planned for Clondalkin. Diageo estimates that the sale of property and lands in Dundalk and Kilkenny will raise €500m. Workers at Diageo's plants in Dublin, Waterford, Kilkenny and Dundalk were briefed by management this morning. Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan welcomed the announcement. "This is a major investment that secures the future of brewing in Ireland," she said. "I also welcome the company's intention to retain and upgrade the St James's Gate brewery which is of great historic significance to Dublin." Kilkenny brewery Diageo says 93 people are directly employed in its brewing operation in Kilkenny. It is understood that there are possibly another 50 people employed in the Kilkenny brewery on short-term or temporary contracts. Brewing has been taking place in Kilkenny for almost 300 years. Mayor of Kilkenny City Marie Fitzpatrick said the news has come as a major shock. Ms Fitzpatrick said the area where the brewery is located is a vibrant part of the city. She said staff at the plant had suspected some element of downsizing, but not a full closure. Dundalk brewery Diageo employs 85 people at its Dundalk brewery. Jim D'Arcy, Chairman of the Dundalk Town Council, has expressed disappointment at Diageo's decision to end the long tradition of brewing in Dundalk. Cllr D'Arcy said the first priority must now be to ensure that the most attractive possible redundancy package is secured for the 85 people who will lose their jobs as part of the rationalisation programme, and that retraining is made available to those wishing to pursue other employment opportunities. The Executive Director of the Dundalk Chamber of Commerce has also said the news is disappointing. Bill Tosh said the announcement came totally 'out of the blue' for the people of Dundalk. He said the plant's closure would have a wide effect, as the company used local firms for some contracts like maintenance and distribution. Cllr Jimmy Mulroy, Chairman of Louth County Council said Diageo's decision highlights the need to diversify the range of employment opportunities available in the town and in Co Louth more widely. Diageo workers' future Staff at Diageo were told this morning that employees affected by the change will be offered relocation packages where possible, but severance packages, career counselling and outplacement support will also be made available. General Secretary of the Guinness Staff Union Sean Mackell said this morning's announcement is very bad news for workers. He said the GWU would be totally opposed to compulsory redundancies. He said the final arrangements of the plan would only be determined following discussion and negotiation with staff.Mr Mackell said the company was trying to give the impression that the announcement was good news for Ireland, when in fact the opposite was the situation. He said Diageo has made a profit every year in Ireland since 1759

'BEST OF THE BEST' AWARD

Best Western Ireland recently announced the winner of its ‘Highest Quality Hotel Award for 2007.’ The award, which was presented to the Best Western Eviston House Hotel, Co. Kerry, is given to the ‘Best of the Best’ hotel within the brand on an annual basis. The Hotel achieved the highest score in Best Western’s independently adjudicated Quality Assurance Assessments. Best Western now has a strong portfolio of twenty hotels with nearly 2,000 bedrooms throughout Ireland.

Pictured are (l-r): Neville Graham, Director of International Member Services; Una Teahan, Reservations Manager; and Christopher Walker, General Manager, Best Western Eviston House Hotel.

REZIDOR OPENS THE NEW RADISSON SAS ROYAL HOTEL, DUBLIN

The Rezidor Hotel Group (STO:REZT) opened its 11th Radisson SAS Hotel in Ireland - the 150-room Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in the heart of Dublin city The number of Rezidor rooms opened in 2007 now increases to 3.703 - between 2007 and 2009 the group will add 20.000 new rooms to its portfolio. The newly built deluxe hotel is located at the crossroads of Golden Lane and Chancery Lane, adjacent to Dublin Castle.

It is a Radisson SAS Royal, an accolade only given to a chosen few of the Radisson SAS hotels, the first of which was the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel in Copenhagen, developed by the famous Danish architect Arne Jacobsen. Designed by Anthony Reddy & Associates with interiors by Graven Images, the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel, Dublin has some uniquely chic features, from the spectacular lobby to the rooftop terrace and including a fabulous bar on the 7th floor, available for private hire, which has panoramic views over the city centre.

Besides 150 rooms and suites which are equipped with latest technology such as free high-speed and wireless internet access, the hotel offers fifteen state-of-the-art, flexible meeting rooms, and a ballroom/conference room with pre-function areas comfortably catering for up to 400 delegates. The all-day lounge bar of the property is called 'Sure', an affectionate reference to the Irish love of the word in all its meanings.

Friendly and welcoming, 'Verres En Vers' is the contemporary, French-style, all-day brasserie and bar at the hotel, whose name translates as 'poetry in a glass'. It seats up to 100 guests for lunch, dinner and Radisson SAS's Super Buffet Breakfast.

WHY TESCO IS TOPS IN THE REPUBLIC

John Kelly In Dublin Updated:13:49, Thursday November 22, 2007

It is already the biggest grocery chain in Ireland, and now a new report has underlined just how important Tesco is to the Irish economy. Tesco is Ireland's biggest grocers Tesco bought £470m of Irish produce last year for export to the company's outlets in 13 countries around the world. That makes the group a bigger buyer of Irish food than France, Germany or the US. Indeed, only the United Kingdom itself bought more Irish food than Tesco did last year.

Tesco serves more than a million customers a week at its 98 stores across Ireland, trade worth £1.8bn annually to the Irish economy. Not bad for a company which only began trading in the Republic of Ireland 10 years ago when it purchased 76 stores previously owned by Irish supermarket group Quinnsworth. Since then Tesco has gone on to dominate the Irish grocery sector, garnering a 25% market share in the Republic. Kilkenny is the only county in the Republic which does not have a Tesco store, and the company employs 13,000 people directly, with another 14,000 jobs dependent on it.

The only cloud on the horizon for Tesco, whose chief executive Terry Leahy has Irish parents, is the perennial issue of competition. Ireland's National Consumer Agency (NCA)wants more competition, which could be bad news for Tesco and Dunnes, Ireland's second-biggest grocery chain. An NCA prices' survey earlier this year indicated a lack of competition in the food retail sector. If a bigger survey to be revealed early next year detects similar patterns then Tesco and Dunnes could be hauled before the Competition Authority.

HOTELS AIM FOR HEALTHIER KIDS' MENUS

More than 1,000 hotels and guesthouses will be asked to make their children's menus healthier in a bid to tackle obesity in young people. Healthy eating habits are established early in life, so our aim is to assist parents choose healthier food options for their children.

Matthew Ryan The Irish Hotels Federation (IHF) will provide chefs with guidelines for preparing healthy food along with a range of family friendly menus. Independent dietician Margot Brennan helped put together menus that will help hotels to eliminate salt in cooking and to provide alternatives to fizzy drinks and fast food such as chips. According to the IHF, 40 per cent of Irish children exceed the recommended maximum energy intake from fat. Some 13 per cent of Irish girls and 9.2 per cent of boys aged between five and 12 years are obese.

New IHF president Matthew Ryan announced the initiative to 400 hoteliers gathered for the body's 70th annual conference in Kilkenny. "With obesity in children rising at alarming rates in Ireland, everyone has a role to play in encouraging and promoting healthy food to assist reduce the prevalence of obesity among young people," he said. "Healthy eating habits are established early in life, so our aim is to assist parents choose healthier food options for their children."

IRELAND NAMED AS THE WORLD'S 'FRIENDLIEST DESTINATION'

by Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008, published October 2007

Ireland has topped the list of the World’s Friendliest Destinations in the new edition of Lonely Planet Bluelist 2008, the annual title which captures the best in travel for the coming year. The eagerly-awaited book, which is now in its third year and contains 100% new content, is a collection of the world’s hottest trends, destinations, journeys and experiences from around the world. The Emerald Isle tops the list of Friendliest Destinations because of its “deliciously dark sense of humour” and “welcoming attitude towards strangers”. There is also praise for “That famous ability of the Irish – to find ‘craic´ (craic is the Irish word for good times) in boom or bust times”.

CHOICE HOTELS INTERNATIONAL ENTERS INTO MASTER FRANCHISING AGREEMENT IN IRELAND WITH KASTERLEE LIMITED

Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE:CHH) today announced that it has entered into a ten-year master franchising agreement with Ireland-based Kasterlee Limited for the right to license and develop Choice's Clarion, Quality and Comfort brands in Ireland. Prior to acquiring the master franchising rights directly from Choice, Kasterlee operated Choice's brands in Ireland under an area representative agreement with Real Hotel Group (formerly CHE Hotel Group), which previously held the master franchise rights in Ireland.

The current portfolio in Ireland consists of 21 Comfort, Quality and Clarion branded hotels in markets including Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick. Master franchising duties held by Kasterlee will be assumed by its subsidiary, Cordelle Enterprises Limited. Concurrent with the execution of this master franchise agreement, Kasterlee Limited, doing business as Choice Hotels Ireland, announced it had sold its ownership interest in 11 Comfort Inn and Quality Hotels to a consortium of investors led by TVC Holdings plc, which assumed the franchise agreements for these hotels. Cordelle Enterprises Limited is now the franchisor for these 11 properties.

"We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with Kasterlee as the organization has been a very strong steward and operator of our brands in Ireland since 1998," said Mark Pearce, vice president, international operations, Choice Hotels International. "Over the past decade, Kasterlee has developed a very well-segmented market presence for Choice's brands while establishing a strong reputation as a leading provider of exemplary accommodations in the three-star and four-star segments. We are very confident about Kasterlee's ability to continue to grow Choice's market presence in Ireland. We look forward to building upon an already strong relationship with Kasterlee's talented leadership team to meet our shared objectives of brand strength, guest satisfaction and system growth”. Choice Hotels International also confirmed that neither Kasterlee nor any of its affiliates has the rights to franchise the Clarion brand outside of Ireland.