Vibrancy and service clinch Clarion top award
The four-star Clarion Hotel, which was the first tenant in the City Quarter development on Lapp’s Quay, was presented with the Cork Business Association (CBA)/Heineken Ireland Business of the Year award at a gala awards ceremony on Saturday night.
The award, sponsored by Heineken Ireland and the Irish Examiner, recognises the value and achievement of Cork businesses.
It also acknowledges an individual business that has contributed to, or promoted the enhancement of the commercial, cultural or civic life of the city.
The Clarion Hotel, which opened just more than four years ago, was in the running for the award alongside Fitzgerald Menswear, Egan’s Sight and Hearing Specialists and Eason’s Newsagents.
“The whole City Quarter is a huge addition to Cork city and to have a hotel the calibre of the Clarion is great,” the judging panel said.
“The Clarion has earned its stripes and great credit is due to Charlie Shiel and his staff for their professionalism – they thoroughly deserve this award.”
It is the latest in a string of awards for the largest hotel in Cork in recent months.
It won the 2008 International Clarion Hotel of the Year award, the 2009 European Foundation Quality Management Business Award of Excellence from Fáilte Ireland, and it was the 2009 winner of the Repak Recycling Best Practice in the hospitality sector.
The award was presented at a gala dinner in the Radisson Blu hotel in Little Island later, attended by some 200 guests, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, Lord Mayor Dara Murphy, CBA president Lawrence Owens, the managing director of Heineken Ireland, David Forde, and Irish Examiner chief executive Tom Murphy.
The judging panel, chaired by the CBA’s James O’Sullivan, includes Heineken Ireland’s Johnny Crowley, Thomas Crosbie Holdings chairman Alan Crosbie, city manager Joe Gavin and Assistant Garda Commissioner Kevin Ludlow.
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