| Around the Town |
As you can imagine, the Christmas season (which somehow seemed to have started last Easter!) was filled with parties and events of all sorts. Sigrid, Sarah and Conor (not to mention Clyde) enjoyed the gracious hospitality of the National College of Ireland; the Park Plaza, Tyrrelstown; Dublin on Ice and in January went to meet NEO members and potential new members courtesy of Meet Limerick Shannon. Read on! |
| |
| Three Kinds of Potatoes for Dinner! Sigrid's First Social Event |
In October, Sarah got an invitation to attend a social evening, complete with dinner and theatre, from the Conference & Events Team at the National College of Ireland, and, as luck would have it, she was otherwise engaged, so I got to go in her stead. Since I was only three weeks in the job, and this was my first event, I was quite excited when I headed down to the NCI in the evening of the 22nd November.
The first part of the evening was held in the Kelly Theatre, a 120-seat lecture theatre versatile enough to also function as a dining hall sporting several beautifully laid tables. I was greeted at the door by Bertie, who quickly supplied me with a glass of champagne and introduced me to Emma Kytzia, who took me under her wing and introduced me to several of the other guests.
After conversing for a while, we were seated at the tables and NCI’s catering partners, NEO members Campbell Catering, served us a lovely three-course dinner. I was seated between Eibhlin Curley of Dublin City Enterprise Board and Joan O’Grady of ICC Concepts, and since the play we were going to see were an adaptation of one of the Ross O’Carroll-Kelly books, and this was my first experience with this Dublin socio-cultural phenomenon, they were kind enough to educate me on the subject, as well as that of rugby, rugby players and rugby fans in general. Together with the three kinds of potato served with dinner, it was as good an introduction to Dublin life as any foreigner could wish for.
When the time drew near, we rose from the tables, picked up our lovely gift boxes of chocolate and went outside to be picked up by a coach from Joe Moroney coach service who took us to the Olympia Theatre. The play was very entertaining, all the more so for the explanatory introduction I had gotten earlier. During the interval, Bertie had actually managed to reserve tables for us in the bar, a fact that made at least me feel very smug as I watched the rest of the crowd jostle for space and step on each other’s toes.
Going home that night, I felt that I had fully immersed myself in Irish culture (and cuisine!) and had come out all the better for it. A big thanks to Bertie, Emma and Niall for a lovely and well-organised evening!
|
 |
Our Picture Shows...
Emma Kytzia from the National College of Ireland taking a little break to chat with fellow founding member of NEO Ireland, Clyde Carroll. Sarah tells me that Clyde takes a brilliant picture, and that's why his photo always appears at least once in every NEO e-zine! |
| |
|
|
| |
| Conor's First Christmas Party of Last Year... |
I am always a bit sad in January. Christmas is over and I only got to see Santa once (The ones that try to swindle money out of me in Grottos across this island don’t count). However, this year I was left with some great memories to tide me over until next year and one that sticks out was my first Christmas party of the year.
The Park Plaza Hotel, Tyrrelstown is one of Dublin’s newest 4* properties with a lot going for it. Located in close proximity to both Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport, this new contemporary hotel features 155 rooms including 11 Junior and 2 Superior Suites. Their Director of Sales and Marketing - Siobhan O’Sullivan (pictured below with me and her colleague Michelle Ryan) extended Neo an invitation to come on down and celebrate the festive season with a style and glamour that left this networking manager with his jaw touching expensive beige carpet. Sigrid Barany (the new Conor J ) joined me on this trip and at 7.00pm on the 6th December we arrived.
|
 |
|
 |
| Michelle Ryan, Conor Savage and Siobhan O'Sullivan at the party |
|
The fabulous Greenwich Lobby - can't you just see me there? |
|
Driving up towards the Park Plaza is an experience within itself, a stunning building with an art deco (Sigrid’s words) theme that fits into the surrounding landscape like a glove. Walking into the building was a treat, the Hourglass bar on our left and reception on our right. The bar had the great feeling of a classic Irish pub, without compromising the 4* quality of the property. Afterwards we checked in and went to our rooms, 2 of the 155 that the hotel has to offer. The room was, like the rest of the hotel, designed with a wood/oak theme throughout which fitted perfectly with the cold Irish weather. The centre piece above the bed was a huge clock, opposite my huge plasma screen TV (I love TV).
Back to the Christmas party, we went downstairs to be greeted by Siobhan who took us into their pre-event reception area, with its own bar. There we were treated to a canapé & drinks reception and got to meet Michelle Ryan, the hotel’s Event Manager and Louise Maguire, their events coordinator. We then got the full low down on the hotel and its facilities. Park Plaza Tyrrelstown Hotel has some of the largest and most flexible meeting spaces in Dublin. State-of-the-art facilities (including the latest in Creston room controllers, state of the art audiovisual equipment, onsite technician and wireless high-speed Internet access – which is a must for any event nowadays) plus on site support from their dedicated meetings and events team. The hotel has a separate entrance for conferences and events and has its own car park. There are 11 fully air-conditioned and flexible Conference rooms, the largest of which can hold 350 people cocktail style.
Our 5-course gala dinner was located in the largest of these rooms and it was clearly evident to see how adaptable the hotel is to different types of events. The room was shouting Christmas from rooftops which left me with a huge smile of my face. After a gorgeous dinner catered by their in-house executive chef, the entertainment began with “20th Century Gold”, a brilliant band playing everyone’s favorites from the past few decades. Unfortunately the night had to end some time, so to all those at the Park Plaza, thank you for an amazing night. It is a top notch property delivered with exceptional service. I hope you all had a good Christmas and a Happy New Year. Conor Savage (Conor_at_neoireland.com) |
| |
|
| Bravo! Bravo! : No Skating on Thin Ice Here... |
In November, our friends at Bravo! invited us to come along to the launch of Dublin on Ice, which they were hosting in association with Dundalk Ice Dome and Dublin City Council, along with other sponsorship.
Being fans of all things Christmassy, me and Sarah were of course delighted, and on the evening of Thursday November 29th we donned our winter coats and headed down to Smithfield.
In spite of the dreary November drizzle, Bravo! had managed to create quite a little winter wonderland right in the city centre. The whole set-up had a festive feeling to it and the atmosphere was greatly aided by the dramatic backdrop of the gas braziers.
When we arrived, the ice was alive with performances, including a spectacular fire show to match the gas flares, after which is was time for speeches. The Lord Mayor of Dublin Cllr Paddy Bourke held his opening speech, saying:
“It has been wonderful to be able to open the ice rink at Smithfield and I am sure that there will be lots of family fun here throughout the season. The way everyone involved has worked together to ensure the ice rink was brought back to the city centre has shown true community spirit.”
Mary Weir, Event Manager, Dublin City Council, was also delighted to see the rink in Smithfield, and she praised the team at Bravo! extensively for delivering the event within a really short time scale.
When the speeches were finished, the ice rink was declared open to the public and while we were still applauding, children, teenagers and adults alike took to the ice in high spirits and amid great cheer. Me and Sarah, however, were quite content with watching the crowd and sipping our mulled wine. Congratulations to Bravo! for a well-planned and cheerful opening night! Who knows, next time I might even dare to pull on the oul’ skates…
|
 Our Picture Shows... The Lord Mayor and Friends on the ice |
| |
|
| Imagination Unlocked - and Into Overdrive... |
In December of last year, I received an invitation from Karen Brosnahan of Meet Limerick Shannon Conference & Sports Bureau to come along to Unlock Your Imagination, an event showcasing the ample resources and possibilities of the Shannon region for events purposes.
On January 10 th I headed down to the SAS Radisson Royal where I was greeted by Karen and a number of representatives from the Shannon tourism and hospitality industry, including
- Shannon Development
- Shannon Heritage
- Shannon Region Tourism
- Hilton Limerick
- Adare Manor Hotel & Golf Resort
- Castleoaks Country House Hotel
- Clarion Hotel
- Ballykisteen Hotel & Golf Club
- Absolute Hotel
- Limerick Marriott Hotel
- Dromoland Castle
- Kilmurry Lodge Hotel
- Quality Hotel & Leisure Centre
- Castletroy Park Hotel
- Fitzgerald’s Woodlands Park Hotel
- Limerick Conference & Sports Park
- Radisson SAS Hotel & Spa
- The South Court Hotel
- The Templegate Hotel
- The Old Ground Hotel
- The Lodge at Doonbeg
In addition to showcasing great venues, Unlock Your Imagination also sported a showcase for NEO members Fun Ireland, which every twenty minutes or so would literally unlock a great big wardrobe door through which assorted characters from the magical land of Narnia would come filing out, beckoning the guests to follow them back through the door. The guests would then enter the wardrobe, brushing past fur coats into a wintry landscape easily identifiable by the familiar, if incongruous, Narnian landmark of the lamppost. While scenes from the Narnia movie played on a screen, the Ice Queen, Mr Tumnus and the other Narnians treated the audience to canapés, wine and a spectacular dance show.
Unfortunately, I was exactly five minutes too late to partake of this lovely-sounding spectacle, arriving just as everybody else were filing out of the room, starry-eyed, but Clyde Carroll (Chambers Ireland) has been doing his best to turn me green with envy, assuring me that it was a show well worth seeing. I did get to see the room, though, saying my hellos to John and Rebecca (Fun Ireland), and I have to say I was impressed by how complete the illusion was.
After admiring Fun Ireland’s handiwork, I went back into the real world, where the exhibitors supplied me with information and brochures on some outstanding venues, characterised by their versatility as well as their beautiful settings. All in all, this was a well-planned and informative event that really served to highlight the fact that the Shannon area is full of possibilities and well worth a visit for anyone organising conferences or events. Thanks to Meet Limerick Shannon Conference & Sports Bureau, Fun Ireland and all the exhibitors for a great evening, and next time I’ll make sure to arrive earlier!
|
|
|
Our Picture Shows... Some of the cast of Fun Ireland's Narnia Experience |
| |
|
|
|
|
| Click here to read Members News... |
|
|
|
