Welcome from Our Chief Executive, Michael Kearney
As Chief Executive of Carlton Hotel Group, I'd like to welcome you to the Carlton Hotel Group blog. The Carlton Hotel Group was established in 2004 and since then has developed as one of the premier Hotel Groups in Ireland. In the past 7 years Carlton has grown substantially from operating one hotel to having a presence in many locations throughout Ireland.
Through this blog it is my aim to give you an insight into what's going on in all of our hotels plus my opinions on current affairs, sports news, general activities and events. I will also occassionally invite some of my colleagues to write on the blog giving you more opinions and insights into what's going on at Carlton. If you have any questions or queries on any of the posts please leave a comment and I will respond at my earliest convenience. Enjoy reading.............
Posted: 2011-11-04 12:00:00
The big news this week was of course the announcement that Michael D. Higgins won the election last Friday and is now the new President of Ireland. This year’s presidential campaign was one of the toughest yet with many people calling it a dirty campaign as it seemed some of the candidates were being targeted over things they have done in the past. Whether it was justified or not this is unfortunately what can happen if you’re in the public eye and if it didn’t come out during the campaign it would have come out at a later date anyway. In saying that though there were some great candidates in the race and according to the polls it was a close call between Sean Gallagher and Michael D. Higgins right up to the end. I’d like to take this opportunity to congra ...
Posted: 2011-10-28 16:00:00
The big news in sport this week was of course New Zealand’s victory over France in the final of the Rugby World Cup. Although the French had been written off by many of the commentators and spectators, they definitely weren’t going out without a fight and played hard throughout the match, making it a great game to watch. The All Blacks proved the better team in the end and won with a score of 8-7 crowning them the ultimate winners of the World Cup 2011. Obviously I would rather it was Ireland claiming the title but of the two teams in the final I was routing for New Zealand and was delighted to see them beat France even if only by a small margin.I mentioned last week that I was down in Kinsale for the relaunch of their Spa and Restaurant and I can tell you now that th ...
Posted: 2011-10-21 15:00:00
Last weekend was a busy one for me although I did get to fit in a few rounds of golf during a trip to Galway so it worked out very well for me! For the first weekend in a long time my time wasn't taken up with watching sports games on tv so I was able to get out and about while the weather is still ok. There's talk of us getting the really bad weather back again soon so although its cold we need to make the most of the non-snow weather while it lasts!Another busy week ends with a trip to the Carlton Hotel Kinsale as I am attending the official launch of their Rockpool Restaurant and Aphrodite Hills C Spa tonight. Some renovation work has recently take place at the hotel to allow for the changes in both the restaurant and the spa. The Rockpool Restaurant serves dishes on a Polishe ...
Posted: 2011-10-14 16:00:00
Last weekend was a disappointing one for Irish rugby supporters as Ireland were knocked out of the Rugby World Cup following their defeat against Wales. It was definitely hard to watch them lose after getting so far but Wales deserved the win as they played a better game on the day. It wasn’t all bad news for Irish sport this week though as Ireland secured a Euro 2012 playoff spot following a 2-1 win over Armenia. Although there has been a lot of negative press about the match the important thing to focus on is that we’re now through to the playoffs and have a chance to qualify for Euro 2012. Ireland will take on Estonia in the playoffs and I’m sure there will be plenty of training for the team over the next few weeks in order to try secure that victory!In Carlt ...
Posted: 2011-10-07 16:00:00
As planned I headed over to the Carlton Shearwater Hotel last Sunday to check out this year’s October Horse Fair. Huge crowds of over 60,000 people attended the opening day of the fair, plus they had visits from two of the presidential candidates, Mary Davis and David Norris. The fair was officially opened by this year’s guest of honour, Niall Quinn, who was driven through the streets of Ballinasloe in a horse drawn carriage with the Queen of the Fair, Cathriona Farrell. I was lucky enough to meet Niall Quinn while I was there and it was great to get the chance to talk to him. I also took some time to chat to Martin Daly, the general manager at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel, and I had to commend him on his choice of fair queen as Cathriona was a natural and did a great ...
Posted: 2011-09-30 16:30:00
The sporting news this week has been all about the Rugby World Cup in New Zealand and it’s great to see Ireland doing so well in it. They followed their amazing victory over Australia with a 62 to 12 win over Russia last Sunday morning. I was one of the many Irish fans glued to the TV early on Sunday morning watching the match and cheering Ireland on to their victory. It’ll be another early start this weekend as they take on Italy in what will definitely be a game worth watching! The famous October Fair returns to Ballinasloe this weekend and this year’s festival queen was chosen this week. Cathriona Farrell was crowned Queen of the Fair at the Carlton Shearwater Hotel and beat off strong competition to be awarded the title. The general manager of the hotel, Mar ...
Posted: 2011-09-23 17:00:00
Last weekend was a fantastic weekend for sport both locally and internationally. Saturday began with an early start as I got up to watch Ireland take on Australia in the Rugby World Cup. Despite many commentators believing Ireland didn’t have a chance, they proved them all wrong and beat Australia, bringing them one step closer to the World Cup Quarter-Finals. It was amazing game to watch with the final score coming in at Ireland 15 and Australia 6. I’ll be up early again this weekend to watch them take on Russia on Sunday morning and hopefully make it two in a row.It was another victory for the underdog in GAA this week in the All-Ireland Senior Football Final. Despite the fact that bookies and commentators alike expected Kerry to win, Dublin proved them all wrong an ...
