Chamber Business Award the place to be!

A record crowd attended the Louth Business Awards organized by Dundalk Chamber of Commerce in the Carrickdale Hotel on Saturday the 20th October. The annual event is now a high light in the social calendar in Dundalk with over 630 guests in attendance.

A sell-out crowd compromising of business leaders, local politicians and dignitaries suggested this really was the place to be. Tickets are always at a premium for this occasion and this was the largest number of bookings ever for this fantastic networking event.

Local Soprano Sarah McCourt entertained guests during the reception. Mizu Health & Beauty sponsored Best Dressed Lady while Tony McDonnell Menswear sponsored the Best Dressed Gent. It really was a glamorous occasion with beautiful dresses and accessories. The staff of the Carrickdale Hotel pulled out all the stops to make it a night to be remembered. Local company Wow Wow Weddings supplied a photo booth on the night and patrons had a fantastic time getting fun photos with plenty of props.

MC for the night was Michael Duffy who provided the rapport with the audience and the finalists. The band on the night was Sugartown Rd. and they got all the audience up from the very first number and made sure the crowd were entertained until the early hours with a brilliant selection of songs. The dance floor was packed to capacity the whole night and local businesses donated fantastic spot prizes also which really added to the occasion.

The winners in the various categories for the Louth Business Awards 2018 were as follows:

• Best Shop Front Both Interior & Exterior sponsored by Net1.ie was won by Treat & Green.
• Best Customer Service Independent Retailer sponsored by The Argus was won by Hollands Hardware.
• Best Customer Service Multiple Retailer sponsored by The Carrickdale Hotel was won by Neola Boutique.
• Best Café/ Fast Food Outlet sponsored by AV Direct was won by The Kingfisher Restaurant.
• Best Dining Experience sponsored by Dundalk Stadium was won by Lennon’s Gastro Pub.
• Best Bar sponsored by Diageo was won by Russell’s Saloon Gin Emporium.
• Tourism Award sponsored by Value Centre Cash & Carry was won by Farm Tours Ireland.
• Community Award sponsored by Dundalk Credit Union was won by St. Patrick’s Parish Soup Kitchen & Food Parcels.
• Start-up Business of the year sponsored by AIB Bank was won by Dundalk Study Academy.
• Best Emerging Business sponsored by Local Enterprise Office Louth was won by Loughran Family Malt.
• Fastest Growing Company sponsored by Vhi Healthcare was won by The Great Northern Distillery Ltd.
• Best Marketing Campaign sponsored by Oriel Hub was won by ECC Design & Engineering.
• Employee Development Award sponsored by LMETB was won by DKIT Sport.
• Environmental Awareness Award sponsored by Recruitment Plus was won by Ecological Waste Management.
• Best Family Business Award sponsored by Prometric was won by Industrial & Farm Machinery.
• Professional Services Award sponsored by M1 Document Solutions was won by Osborne Recruitment.
• Best Indigenous Manufacturing Company of the year was won by sponsored by Enterprise Ireland was won by Elite Form Manufacturing.
• Employee of the year sponsored by Recruit Island was won by Garry Hoey of McKeown Auto Services.
• Best Exporter of the year sponsored by Enterprise Ireland was won by Horseware.

There was a special presentation to Dundalk Credit Union in recognition of the significant and ongoing role this organisation has played for the past 50 years, and will continue to play for many years in to the future. The Special Award for “Outstanding Community Impact” recognised Dundalk Credit Union as a leader in the Community. A leader in the community, this organization continues to foster and to build community strength and sustainability at local and regional level , through community partnerships, its generosity towards voluntary and charitable organizations and through the invaluable support it provides to cultural, community and economic projects ensuring its contribution to the well- being of the community and local economy.

Winner of the Lifetime Award for Contribution to Louth was won by Bernard Carroll of Bellurgan Precision Engineering. Bernard along with his late wife Ann Carroll established Bellurgan Precision Engineering 40 years ago as means to create sustained employment for his family. By building a business locally, not only did Bernard create long term employment for his own family, he has done the same for many families in the local area.

Best Dressed Lady sponsored by Mizu Health and Beauty was won by Marguerite Murphy.

Best Dressed Gent sponsored by Tony McDonnell Menswear was won by Gerard McEvoy.

Pat McCormick President Dundalk Chamber,  “was delighted with the attendance, there are not many occasions where you can get so many members of the business community under the one roof and these awards provide that. All these companies here tonight are winners in their own field and this is a great opportunity to recognize them”.

In The Photographs

• Andrew McKeever Net1 ie, winner Ken Nolan Treet & Green, Emot Jinalay, Pat McCormick and Clare Nolan
• Terry Kelly of Terry Kelly Wallpaper & Paints, Thomas McDonagh Dundalk Chamber, winner Daniel Holland of Hollands Hardware, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Aine Corcoran Sybil, Kenneth Matthews Toolfix, Martin McKeown of Backhouse Pharmacy
• Susan Griffin McCormack’s Pharmacy, Caroline Lee Colourtrend, Orla Hayes Carrickdale Hotel, winner Dana McNally of Neola Boutique, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Viviane Dunne Name IT, Bronagh McCoy Inglot Cosmetics and Hugh McEvoy Talk to Me
• Gerry Byrne Copper Kettle, Jason Mullen Mullen’s Takeaway Castletown Rd, winner Noel Byrne Kingfisher Restaurant, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Alan Delaney The Bagel Bar and Keith Mullen of Mullens Takeaway Roden Place
• Laura Bizna Four Seasons, winner Kevin Smith of Lennon’s Gastro Pub, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber and Orla Hayes Carrickdale Hotel
• Tony McGuinness Market Bar, Cathy McKeown of McKeown’s Bar, Ciaran Reilly Diageo, winner Jean McGuinness Russell’s Saloon Gin Emporium, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber and Greg Gormley
• Martin Winters Suretank, Deirdre Craven Enterprise Ireland, winner Tom McGuinness Horseware, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber and Eamonn Laramie of Great Northern Distillery
• Billy Doyle Dundalk Credit Union, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber and Paddy Donnelly Dundalk Credit Union
• Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Laura Morgan Walsh, winner Bernard Carroll Bellurgan Precision Engineering and Mario McBlain DKIT
• Sean O Neill The Glyde Inn, Bronac Mackin Scenic Carlingford Ferry, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Gerry Giggins Farm Tours Ireland, Rory Gartlan Value Centre Cash & Carry, Sharon McGuigan Carlingford Oyster Festival and Jason McGee Blackrock Tourism & Development Group
• Mary Foy Irish Wheelchair Assoc, Paddy Donnelly Dundalk Credit Union, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Kayleigh Mulligan Louth Volunteer Centre, Paul McKenna SNAP, Anna Brennan Cara Cancer Support Centre, Billy Doyle Dundalk Credit Union, winner Rose Bailey St Patrick’s Parish Soup Kitchen & Food parcels and Sharon Johnston of Dundalk Special Olympics Club
• Orla McDonnell OMD Consultancy, Orla Thornton AIB Bank, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Monique Bryson Clarke of Dundalk Study Academy, Paul Jevens of Jevens Design IT Tape and Aileen Markey Unglu-d
• Anita Finnegan Nova Leah, Mary Curtis Smarmore Castle Private Clinic, Thomas McEvoy LEO, winner Antony Loughran of Loughran Family Malt, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber and Shane Brett of Gecko
• Aidan McKee WaterWipes, Patricia Gorman Hydroscand, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Eamonn Laramie Great Northern Distillery, Garry Byrne Vhi Healthcare and Catriona Rooney Ecological Waste
• Paddy King Va Va Voom, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Colm Holmes of ECC Design & Engineering, Paddy Malone Oriel Hub, John Sheridan Comfort Keepers and Micheal McArdle of McArdle Skeath
• Andrew Sansom Intact Software, Darren Crawley McArdle Skeath, Bernie McKevitt LMETB, winner Kelly Connor DKIT Sport, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Lorraine Kirk Bellurgan Precision Engineering and Eamonn Kelly Prometric
• Paul Kelly Bellurgan Precision Engineering, Zuzana Foley Recruitment Plus, winner Catriona Rooney Ecological Waste, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, Sarah Brennan Leinster Environmental, Seamus McGinnity McArdle Skeath
• Gerry Giggins Farm Tours Ireland, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Joseph O Reilly of IFM, Jennifer McEvoy of McEvoys, Brendan Gallagher Prometric, Graham Purcell National Tile and Jamie Lally of Lally’s Electrical
• Catherine McGinley Quinn Solicitors, Sunnibha Corcoran of SMC Food Safety Mgt Consultants, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Shona McManus of Osborne Recruitment, John Nealon M1 Document Solutions, Brigene Litchfield of Cuchulainn Credit Union, Shane Dullaghan Dash and Katisha Kieran of Servisource Recruitment
• Mary Loughran Leinster Environmental, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Sandra Byrne Elite Form Manufacturing, Paula Harmon Bank of Ireland, Stephen Hogg Bellurgan Precision Engineering and Aidan McKee Water Wipes
• Shannon Casey Keystone Insurance, Pat McCormick Dundalk Chamber, winner Garry Hoey McKeown Auto Services, Ross Murphy Recruit Island, Madeline Owens Tres Belle Salon and James Loughran on behalf of Mark Byrne

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