Month: November 2006

  • Portmarnock golf links hotel gets new €5m boost (SBP – 5th November 2006)

    An article of mine from today’s Sunday Business Post (direct link):

    A further €5 million is to be invested in the four-star Portmarnock Hotel in north Co Dublin, as part of the continued redevelopment of the landmark links golf resort.

    Dublin company Capel Developments, which bought the hotel last December, has already invested more than €5 million in a new wing of 40 additional bedrooms.

    The investment will go towards the refurbishment of the original facilities, the first phase of which is due to begin next February. Capel is owned by developers John O’Connor and Liam Kelly.

    ‘‘This hotel had probably slipped off the radar in recent years, so when it was bought last year it was part of the plan to put it back among the premier hotels in Dublin,” said Gordon Riddell, who has been general manager since May.
    ‘‘This is a long-term commitment from our owners; the view is that they want to have a premium product in the north Dublin area.”

    The hotel is managed by the Hotel Partners company, which also operate the Fitzwilliam Hotel, the Royal Dublin Hotel in Dublin and the Park Plaza Hotel in Belfast, among others.

    As part of the first €5 million investment last year, the hotel’s Bernhard Langer-designed golf course was also upgraded.

    ‘‘We had a soft launch for them just before the Ryder Cup, and both the hotel and the course were fully booked during the competition. It’s had a very positive effect on us and has regenerated a lot of interest in the course since then.”

    Riddell said the spate of new hotels in Dublin city had presented a challenge to existing hotels.

    ‘‘We’re not in the market to slash our rates to compete in the budget market,” he said. ‘‘We’re aiming to be a premium property with a premium service. That doesn’t mean we’re going to charge excessive room rates; we will be competitive, just not in the budget market.

    ‘‘Our business is changing, and we’re targeting the international market, as well as the domestic Irish market. We aim at the conference market, as well as leisure. Our golf course and leisure facilities are a big plus for us.” 


  • Daily creche opens for Dublin dogs (SBP – 5th November 2006)

    An article of mine from today’s Sunday Business Post (direct link):

    Dogs in Dublin can now be pampered and cared for while their owners are busy working. Muttugly, a new pet boutique on Charlemont Street, offers a range of services from grooming to pet accessories, in addition to looking after dogs at its daily creche for puppies and small dogs, at a cost of €30 a day.

    ‘‘We found that there was a real lack of services and products for pets and pet parents in Ireland, and we had both seen when we travelled abroad to England or America that the choice was amazing,” said Sinead Deegan, who owns the boutique with her business partner Grace McDonnell.

    The two met through McDonnell’s Dublin company, Animal Adventures, which offered to walk dogs and pet-sit for working owners. Deegan had been looking for a place to put her dog, Molly, while she worked.
    ‘‘Before, I worked a lot and travelled a lot, and when I came home, Molly would have the furniture in bits, literally, because she was bored,” said Deegan.

    ‘‘We’ll offer a structured base for them; dogs love routine and it’s exactly like with kids. It’s important for them to have a routine,” said McDonnell, who worked with the Kildare Animal Foundation for eight years before she established Animal Adventures.

    Muttugly offers to pick up puppies and small dogs from their homes between 8am and 10am, and look after them until the owners return in the evening.

    The company’s premises can handle up to eight dogs at any one time. While in the creche the dogs will be played with, taken on walks and given the opportunity to play and socialise with other dogs.

    Owners can also buy accessories for their dogs, such as collars, beds and toys.

    However, McDonnell and Deegan said the shop was not about making animals into fashion accessories.

    ‘‘We’re not about that at all. We offer more practical items like high-vis vests [for the dogs] for when you’re walking them at night, or raincoats [also for the dogs] so they won’t make a mess in your car,” said Deegan.

    The pair hope that, with enough demand, they can expand to bigger premises in the near future. 


  • Drift-net ban to hit salmon producers (SBP – 5th November 2006)

    An article of mine from today’s Sunday Business Post (direct link):

    Businesses supported by wild salmon fishing are being ignored by the government in its ban on drift-net fishing, according to some of the country’s bigger salmon producers.

    Kevin Clarke – whose family owns Clarkes Salmon Smokery in Ballina, Co Mayo – said that, while he supported the ban in principle, he was frustrated by the way it has been handled by the government.

    ‘‘I’m not looking for a handout, but some kind of assistance from Enterprise Ireland should be provided,” Clarke said.

    ‘‘We’ve spent thousands marketing ourselves as wild salmon sellers and now it’ll be like starting the race again. Over the next year or two, we’ll need to re-sell ourselves and build a new base.”
    Michael Wright, whose family owns Wrights of Howth in Dublin, supports the ban, calling it a brave step, but agreed it would be difficult to make the change.

    ‘‘We’ve built up a very fine business in wild salmon that has taken a long time to build up and this ban is going to be a disaster because there’s nothing to replace it.”

    Wright said importing wild salmon from abroad or buying from anglers were possibilities. However, both were certain to lead to price rises.

    Criticising the route being taken by officials, Clarke said there needed to be an integrated approach to restoring salmon stocks in Ireland.

    ‘‘Just looking at one element of it won’t work, we also need to look at issues like predators.

    ‘‘I’m not suggesting any kind of cull, but I can say with authority that grey seals have done serious damage to salmon stocks in this area,” he said.

    ‘‘We may even come to a point where we’ll need a catch and release system for anglers.”

    But some producers are supportive of the new legislation.

    Anthony Creswell, owner of Ummera Smokehouse in Timoleague, Co Cork, said he welcomed the government’s decision, but said that if it had followed scientific recommendations before now, a ban on drift-net fishing might not have been necessary.

    ‘‘It’s probably the best thing the department has done in a long time.

    “The government has spent too long taking political, rather than realistic, decisions,” said Creswell.

    He said his company had put more emphasis on organic salmon long before now, due to the inevitable decline of salmon stocks. Over the past three years, the company has slowly shifted its production to organic. He said the ban would have little impact on business.

    ‘‘Organic salmon is a very good substitute [for wild salmon] but I don’t know whether people will take to it,” Wright said.

    ‘‘It has slowly become more popular for us in recent years.”

    Clarke said his company had started selling organic salmon, but this only represented a small portion of sales. 


  • Gift Grub comedians in ‘stand-up’ row over new CD (SBP – 5th November 2006)

    An article of mine from today’s Sunday Business Post (direct link):
    The comedian behind Today FM’s Gift Grub sketches, Mario Rosenstock, has been threatened with legal action by one of the show’s main contributors following a dispute over copyright.

    Oliver Callan, who has written and performed a host of Gift Grub sketches, sent legal letters to Rosenstock and record company EMI after he discovered his work on the new Gift Grub CD, Volume 7, which was launched last Friday.

    Callan is claiming that the latest Gift Grub album was released without his permission, despite his work featuring on it. Callan has voiced numerous characters for the show, including RTE newscaster Bryan ‘Dobbo’ Dobson, Enda Kenny and Marian Finucane.
    ‘‘I didn’t know I was on this album until it came out,” said Callan who has also worked as a newsreader with Today FM.

    ‘‘I’m shocked that Mario used my material without asking.”

    Alan Cormack, who said he was Rosenstock’s barrister, confirmed to The Sunday Business Post that a letter had been received and said that it had been responded to immediately.

    ‘‘The allegations in that letter are totally scandalous and without any justification whatsoever, and we have replied to Mr Callan’s solicitors in that vein,” he said. ‘‘We will take any legal action that is necessary to resolutely defend Mario Rosenstock’s position.”

    No EMI representative was available for comment. Rosenstock was taking part in a signing event in HMV Grafton Street in Dublin to promote the newly-launched CD when he was handed the letter from Callan’s lawyer.Â