Tag Archive for: Ireland

On the Move….

We’ve had a busy few weeks travelling up and down the country hosting test-drive events for Volvo dealerships. We’ve hosted pop-up events in Castle Dargan in Sligo and Castle Leslie in Monaghan for McGinley Motors’ Volvo and The Johnston Estate in Meath for Finlay Volvo Naas.

 

 

We leveraged local media with outside broadcasts from Ocean FM and LMFM and social media was a key driver in securing test-drives on the day and generating leads for the dealerships.

 

 

Representatives from the dealerships used the event to capture data and tailor the test drive experience for each customer’s specific needs. Watching them work was a good reminder that, while online is a great tool for research, the face to face engagement at events likes this is what turns test drivers into buyers.

 

 

Customers were also able to test-drive and learn more about Volvo’s latest electric vehicles. The Swedish brand is at the forefront of electrification and the efficient power from its pure electric cars, plug-in hybrids and mild hybrid technology will change the way we move forever.

Savouring Kilkenny….

We had the great pleasure of spending the October bank holiday weekend in Kilkenny for the 13th annual Savour Kilkenny food festival. Upwards of 50,000 people descended on Ireland’s medieval city last weekend to celebrate Kilkenny’s finest local artisan producers and their produce. Joining them was a host of Ireland and the world’s most innovative celebrities and opinion makers in the world of food.

 

 

International visitors for this year’s festival included best-selling Australian author and national TV star, Kim McCosker who brought her 4 Ingredients thinking to the Savour stage. Kim is pictured below taking some time out of her busy schedule to chat to host Edward Hayden on KCLR FM.

 

 

Other familiar faces included homegrown Irish stars Paul Flynn of The Tannery, Dungarvan, Clodagh McKenna, Catherine Fulvio, Rory O’ Connell, Roz Purcell, Darren Kennedy and Mount Juliet’s Ken Harker and John Kelly.

 

 

As well as the KBC Wellness Stage and food and fitness bootcamp with Kathryn Thomas, other festival highlights included tented food and beverage stands, a Medieval Banquet at the Medieval Mile Museum, cooking demonstrations and talks, and kids fun and dining events.

 

 

Roz Purcell hosted a vegan night and also demonstrated how to cook vegan to a packed marquee. This year also saw the introduction of the new Food Provenance award in partnership with Kilkenny LEO and KCLR where local eateries were recognised for the focus they place on local and regional producers and seasonal cooking.

 

 

It was wonderful to experience the very best of Kilkenny’s vibrant food culture and to witness the city and county’s core commitment to supporting local growers and producers and local cafes and restaurants. See savourkilkenny.com for details of next year’s festival.

 

 

Outreach Visit with Governor of the Central Bank

We were delighted to work with the Central Bank team on an outreach visit to Donegal last week. Governor Lane, Gráinne McEvoy (Director of Consumer Protection), Kevin Mullen, (Head of Asset Management Supervision) Geraldine Hannon (Head of Banking Supervision) and Claire O’Gorman (HR Business partner) visited the county as part of an extended outreach visit to build understanding of the Central Bank and listen to a range of views from the northwest.

 

 

We brought Irish Independent journalist and broadcaster, Richard Curran, on board to curate an evening event in Letterkenny with representatives from a cross-section of the local community. Questions on the night covered a broad range of topics including Brexit, SME lending, Credit Unions and competition in financial services.

 

 

The following morning, Wednesday 13 March, the team visited Errigal College, St. Eunan’s College and Loreto Secondary School. This presented an opportunity to hear views from the next generation and answer questions on the Central Bank’s work in Europe, bond rates, the next economic recession and careers at the Central Bank.

 

 

Regulatory technology and governance were topics of discussion when the Governor addressed students from Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) later that day. The visit ended with a tour of the CoLab, Letterkenny IT’s innovation and incubation centre and an introduction to some of its 60 technology-based enterprises.

 

Earagail Arts Festival

This year’s Earagail Arts Festival has something for everyone. It’s the perfect time for visitors to experience the best of Donegal, on the best part of the Wild Atlantic Way. But get booking because tickets are selling out fast…

 

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Tim Johnson - Hills of Donegal (2)  Annjo Carr- Gingko (2)

Jim Osborne - Swans (2)  Seamus Kennedy - Tusk (2)  Ewan Berry - A Horse in the Rain (2)

Brown Thomas CREATE

Irish Designers CREATE is a pop-up installation in Brown Thomas Dublin featuring fifteen Irish designers from the world of fashion, accessories, millinery and graphic print and textile design. There’s also a very special curated archival exhibition from Ireland’s famous couturier Sybil Connolly.

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Sybil

 

Condé Nast Traveller

Great to see three Irish cities on the Condé Nast Traveller list of 20 friendliest cities in the world: Dublin, Kilkenny and Cork

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