Television personality and hotelier Francis Brennan has given up complete control of his luxury five-star Park Hotel in Co Kerry.

Looking for a weekend break with a difference? The Pullman restaurant at the Glenlo Abbey Hotel gives guests the opportunity to dine in original carriages from the Orient Express – and it’s magnificent, says Vickie Maye.

A fully booked hotel for a bumper Galway Race Week is one of the factors contributing to revenues at the five-star Glenlo Abbey Hotel in Galway increasing by 20% this year.

They look after us all year — so where do Ireland’s top hoteliers take time out? Tony Clayton-Lea talks holidays of a lifetime with Francis Brennan, Kevin Dundon and more.

The Park Hotel boasts five-star service and delivers on it in every way possible, writes Jayson Carcione.

There was great excitement in Midleton on the Bank Holiday weekend. The Midleton Farmers Market was joyfully celebrating its 15-year anniversary.

Pre-tax profits at one of the country’s best known engineering consultancy firms last year increased in spite of a drop in revenues.

One half of one of Irish TV’s most popular double acts, hotelier John Brennan, said yesterday that the performance of his Dromquinna Manor venture “has exceeded expectations”.

One of Irish TV’s most popular double acts is to split after hotelier John Brennan confirmed yesterday that the new series of RTÉ’s At Your Service will be his last.

One half of TV’s trouble-shooting hotelier team yesterday described the Wild Atlantic Way as “genius” and its impact on the tourist trade as “phenomenal”.

A penguin evening jacket was the inspiration for hotelier Francis Brennan’s career. 

Irish hotel resorts have taken the top two places and feature in nine of Europe’s 20 best in the latest survey by Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

The co-owner with his brother, John, of Kenmare’s five-star Park Hotel knows how to treat people and how to be treated. He has put his wisdom into a book and Claire O’Sullivan picked out some gems.

Welcome to your Friday morning briefing. Let us ensure you’re up to speed on what’s happening and are prepared for the day ahead.

IT’S JUST a 90-minute drive from Cork city to the Park Hotel Kenmare — the undisputed jewel in Kerry’s crown.

The five-star hotel business operated by TV’s trouble-shooting hotelier brothers John and Francis Brennan, has “weathered the storm” to record two years of profits.

The Brennan brothers are back and are looking for anything from campsites to hotels that are in a need of a bit of inspiration to put them in the black.

TV’s troubleshooting hotelier brothers returned their exclusive five-star hotel to profit last year.

A celebrity hotelier who tours the country offering advice to struggling businesses has been honoured by the Pope for his dedication to the Catholic Church.

ALONG one of the busiest routes on the south coast of Ireland is one of the country’s most spectacular views.

Hotels in Ireland face major challenges when it comes to competitiveness and the biggest drains are the cost of wages, local authority rates and utility rates, according to the Irish Hotel Federation.

CELEBRITY hotelier John Brennan faces an anxious wait before learning if his dream of developing a luxury holiday complex near Kenmare, Co Kerry, will be allowed to proceed by planning officials.

Tommy Barker rounds up some of the movers and shakers in an otherwise depressed year on the domestic property front

THE porter takes my bags from the boot, ushering me into a honey-coloured building lapping up the late summer sunlight, and offers to park my car.

TV’S TOURISM evangelist John Brennan of Kenmare is to invest millions of euro into a new Irish tourism venture.

THE exclusive five-star hotel operated by RTÉ’s “hotel experts”, John and Francis Brennan, returned to profit last year after two years of successive losses totalling over €400,000.

GER CUNNINGHAM is an early favourite to replace Gerald McCarthy as Cork hurling manager.

ANGLO Irish Bank should be used as a vehicle to pump money into the hotel sector.

PLANS for a futuristic exhibition centre — projected to attract 73,000 visitors annually and create 16 jobs in Kenmare — were unveiled in the south Kerry town, last night.

THREE-STAR hotels in Ireland cost €5 less per night than their one-star and two-star counterparts.

Rose Martin says The Lodges has privacy and views of Kenmare Bay.

IN my hotel in Bootle the morning after Liverpool had knocked Barcelona out of the Champions League at Anfield, a large group of Asian supporters, resplendent in red, were happily chatting away over breakfast.

THEY cost a veritable king’s ransom; a royal, aptly enough, is involved in their design and they offer a private getaway to a little corner of paradise.

A LUXURY €100 million hotel and golf development planned for the outskirts of Clonmel will open in 2008 and create 200 permanent jobs.

THE Imperial Hotel, which has opened the only Irish Aveda spa, made a profit of close to €28,000 last year.

Sean Ahearne, who orchestrated Stradbally’s four-in-a-row county championship title wins and followed up with that historic Munster club football championship semi-final victory over Bishopstown last Sunday, has been named the Park Hotel Sport Star Of The Month for October.

JOHN O’SHEA’S starring role in Manchester United’s comprehensive FA Cup final win against Millwall has won him the Park Hotel Waterford Sport Star Of The Month for May.

THE disappointment of Manchester United’s shock Premiership defeat by Wolves on Saturday was eased considerably for Reds emerging superstar John O’Shea later that night when he was named Park Hotel Waterford Supreme Sports Star of 2003.

MORE than 1,200 small businesses are operating without public liability insurance because they cannot afford premium increases of up to 250%.

A TOP hotelier yesterday revealed how his “crippling” insurance bill had rocketed by 274% in two years.

JOHN O’SHEA is the Park Hotel Waterford Sport Star of the Month for October.

FOLLOWING news that Sheen Falls Lodge in Kenmare has been awarded the AA Hotel of the Year, the privately owned country house hotel has announced an expansion programme that will increase its capacity into 2003 and beyond.