The Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel in Fermanagh, one of Northern Ireland’s leading hotels is celebrating its 40^th anniversary this year and to mark the occasion, is asking people from all over Northern Ireland to send photos they may have along with details of special memories which are linked to the hotel over the last 40 years.

 The memorabilia will go towards creating a bespoke ‘Memory Wall’ display and everyone who sends something in will automatically be entered into a draw to win a weekend break for two at the hotel.

 Jacqueline Wright, Director of the Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel explains why people who have had an enjoyable time at the hotel should keep sending their memories in:

 “Entries have been pouring in already but there is still lots of time for people to send in photos of their fond memories linked to the hotel. Thousands of people have celebrated weddings, birthday parties and anniversaries here and we can’t wait to see all the photos associated with these unforgettable gatherings!

 “Our Memory Wall will be on show in our reception area later in the year so be sure to pop into the hotel and indulge in some nostalgia with your loved ones. Whilst you are in the hotel why not enjoy a delicious lunch or a tempting afternoon tea,” added Jacqueline.

 If you would like your photo to be part of the Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel Memory Wall then please email a copy of your photo or favourite memory from the hotel to 40@killyhevlin.com

You can also share your memories on social media using the hashtag #Killyhevlin40.

 For more information on the Killyhevlin Lakeside Hotel or to book a stay go to www.killyhevlin.com or call +44(0) 28 6632 3481.  Find out more at www.facebook.com/Killyhevlin and on twitter @killyhevlin

Tournament: Tayto Northern Ireland Open in partnership with Ulster Bank
Venue: Galgorm Castle Golf Club, Ballymena
Hashtag: #NIOpen
Website: niopen.golf

It is now easier than ever to see the stars in action with today’s news that Translink is on board as one of the Official Suppliers for next week’s Tayto Northern Ireland Open, in partnership with Ulster Bank, at Galgorm Castle in Ballymena.

All roads lead to Ballymena’s renowned championship venue and through Translink spectators can arrive in style and in good time at Galgorm Castle to enjoy a great day out with all the family.

Translink’s John Morgan says using public transport will be a hassle-free way to catch all the action: “This summer, we’ve a wide range of discount bus, coach and train tickets available to bring visitors to Ballymena to enjoy the golf and get home safely.

“Get on board our 218 and 219 Goldline coach service or hop on the train for fast and comfortable travel to and from the town with the added benefit of free Wifi to keep an eye on the latest golf results.

“Once you arrive at Ballymena station, use our free frequent shuttle bus service, taking you right to the NI Open entrance and we’ll also provide a free shuttle service from Ballee Park & Ride throughout the four-day event.”

Every year the NI Open breaks the European Challenge Tour attendance records as almost 40,000 came through the gates in 2015. This year organisers are confident they can attract in the region of 45,000, especially when the NI Open is FREE to enter and there is so much to see and do during tournament week. Simply register for tickets at niopen.golf.

Practice days take place on Monday and Tuesday (July 25, 26) before the eagerly anticipated NI Open Pro-Am on Wednesday (July 27) where stars including One Direction’s Niall Horan, Northern Ireland goalkeeping legend Pat Jennings and former Ulster and Lions rugby player Stephen Ferris will be playing. This really will be an opportunity to get up close and see the players plus pick up a few autographs.

The NI Open tournament for the professionals gets underway from Thursday, July 28-31 and promises to be one of the sporting highlights of the year. The week-long festival of golf also includes the dedicated Food Festival, art exhibition from golf portrait specialist Mark Robinson, Fun Golf Area and NI Open Village. And now it couldn’t be easier to get to the Ballymena venue.

“We’re delighted Translink has become an Official Partner to the NI Open,” explained Galgorm Castle’s Ross Oliver. “With Translink on board it allows visitors and spectators to use public transport as a way of getting to the venue and also to get home at the end of the day.

“One of the easiest ways to plan your trip is by using the Journey Planner link on the tournament website niopen.golf or via the new NI Open app.”

In addition, Translink is also providing bundled family and friends tickets to help visitors plan their day.

“Our Family and Friends Ticket offers unlimited bus and train day travel throughout Northern Ireland for up to two adults and four children for just £22, perfect for a family day out,” added Morgan.

“There is also a third-off NI Railways day return journeys after 9.30am, or a £9 bus rambler ticket for unlimited Translink bus and coach travel after 9.15am. We’ve also launched a new £7 Sunday Day Tracker rail ticket, offering unlimited all day travel on scheduled train services across Northern Ireland on Sundays – a great way to catch the final day’s play at Galgorm.”

For further information or to plan you’re your journey, please visit:
www.translink.co.uk/niopen or call 028 90 66 66 30
www.niopen.golf

Mayor of Derry and Strabane, Alderman Hilary McClintock, has praised the “incredible success” of the Clipper Race Kitchens which attracted in excess of 20,000 participants to Ebrington Square for the four-day food celebration as part of the wider Foyle Maritime Festival.

Ald. McClintock congratulated all the local and visiting chefs, restaurants, suppliers and producers who took part in the flagship culinary showcase organised by Derry City and Strabane District Council in association with Food NI from July 14-17, supported by Tourism NI, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) NI Agri Food Programme and the Loughs Agency through the Sustainable Development Programme.

Also praising the council team involved in organising Clipper Race Kitchens and thanking the thousands of visitors who flocked to the family-friendly event in both rain and sunshine, the Mayor said it was a wonderful celebration of the best local food provenance, seafood produce – through the Flavours of the Foyle showcase – and culinary talent that the North West and wider region has to offer.

Ald. McClintock added: “I had the pleasure of visiting the Clipper Race Kitchens to sample the fantastic local produce, watch the live cookery demonstrations and soak up the festival atmosphere as well as meeting the local and visiting celebrity chefs including Jean-Christophe Novelli who was completely bowled over by the quality of the produce and cuisine on show, and the warmth of the hospitality which our city is famous for as an international tourism destination.”

Mary Blake, Council’s Tourism Development Officer and main organiser of Clipper Race Kitchens, said it had been an “incredible success” in the Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink 2016 calendar.

“We are delighted to have the support of so many businesses – restaurants, suppliers, producers and chefs – in getting the message out to ‘support local’ and, this latest food event, which attracted 37,000 visitors to Ebrington, has proved what we already knew – that we’ve got taste!”

Jean-Christophe Novelli, the 5 out of 5 AA Rosette and Michelin award winning chef, lived up to his title as “the nation’s favourite French chef”, when he conducted a whistle-stop tour of the city’s best known eateries including Browns – winner of Best Restaurant in Ulster 2016 – as well as wowing the crowds with a series of live cookery demos featuring local produce including freshly caught seafood from Donegal Prime Fish.

Speaking afterwards, Novelli said he had been greatly impressed by the reception he received during his visit to the city, especially the “spirit of the people” he had met, and hoped to return in the near future.

Other well-known local chefs – all household names – who performed cookery demos at the event included Ian Orr of Browns (Irish Chef of the Year 2013), Derek Creagh of Harry’s (Irish Chef of the Year 2015), Jenny Bristow, Paula McIntyre, Emmett McCourt, Brian McDermott, the ‘No Salt Chef’ who also compered, and Noel McMeel (Lough Erne Resort), who cooked for the world’s leaders when the G8 Summit was held in Co. Fermanagh in 2013.
Event ambassador Brian McDermott also cooked live at the event with Clipper Race crew members, while local chefs including Stephen Forbes from Pier 59, Johnny Heaney from the Sooty Olive, Colman O’Driscoll from the Everglades Hotel and Noel Ward from the White Horse Hotel, also showcased their foodie flair on the main stage.

Kevin and Julie Hickey of Tamnagh Foods – who were among the many artisan producers with stands in the Clipper Race Food Pavilion said they were delighted to be involved in the event during which they met customers from across the world including Miami, Perth, Isle of Wight, Liverpool and Dublin.

“It has been a great opportunity to be able to tell our food story to the many visitors who came from far and wide. We have had fantastic feedback about our cheese range and we would be more than delighted to come back to the next event,” said the award-making cheese, granola and chutney makers based in Park, Co Derry.

‘Feast or Famine’ World Gourmand Award cookery book author and chef Emmett McCourt, whose Irish Food Heritage project was based in the Clipper Race Food Village during the four-day event and also closed the event with a magical demo featuring wild sea trout, said: “It is great to see our local food being celebrated, especially during Northern Ireland Year of Food and Drink 2016, and puts our cuisine in its rightful place in western Europe; our food really has come of age!”

Michele Shirlow, Tourism NI Board member and CEO of Food NI, also praised the success of the “hugely impressive” Foyle Maritime Festival, especially for food and drink producers from the North West and further afield.

She continued: “The food and drink offerings from local producers and the cookery demonstrations were excellent and proved extremely popular with festival-goers. Derry really has got its food and drink act together, and we’ve been delighted to work closely with Mary Blake and the talented council team in harnessing the marketing potential of Year of Food and Drink including the Walled City and Ebrington markets.

“The Clipper Kitchens hosted the splendid celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli. The festival also saw an innovative collaboration between an artisan food producer, Glastry Farm Ice Cream, and Niche Drinks in Derry – an international distiller of The Quiet Man Irish Whiskey and Irish cream liqueurs – in the launch of the new St Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur flavoured ice cream which proved tremendously popular with festival-goers.
“They’ve embraced Year of Food and Drink with real passion and brought great energy to an impressive programme of events in the city and wider region. The Foyle Maritime Festival is now firmly established as among the biggest and most successful and we’re delighted to be involved.”

Clipper Race Kitchens also provided a feast of entertainment for little gourmands including dancing mermaids, singing chefs, pirates and children’s arts and crafts as well as water boats, jungle playground and chairoplanes, not forgetting the giant table and chairs which also proved to be a focal point for visitors to Ebrington.

 

An innovative Saint Brendan’s Ice Cream developed by Northern Ireland companies Glastry Farm Ice Cream and Nice Drinks, producers of Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur was introduced to French celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli during his visit to Derry

The novel ice cream follows an approach by Derry and Strabane to Will Taylor, managing director of Glastry Farm Ice Cream in Kircubbin, county Down to develop a tasty product specially for the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race stage in Derry, which ran from 9-17th July and was part of the successful Foyle Maritime Festival.

Will Taylor, managing director of the award winning Glastry Farm Ice Cream, a family farm business, says: “We were approached by Mary Blake, Tourism Development Officer at Derry and Strabane Council, to see if we would be willing to create a new ice cream flavour for the hugely popular community festival.

“We were delighted to be part of such an important community event in the North West and readily agreed to her suggestion that we use Saint Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur, which is produced by Nice Drinks in Derry and is, one of the global leaders in Irish cream liqueurs. The liqueur uses fresh double cream from LacPatrick Dairies in Coleraine, county Derry. Glastry fresh cream is sourced from the Taylor family farm.

“I discussed the project with Ciaran Mulgrew, the managing director at Niche Drinks, who was tremendously supportive. We’ve been working on blending the liqueur with our ice cream, which is made from our herd of Holstein cattle on our farm. Extensive taste tests have produced immensely positive feedback. The new ice cream has a very rich and tasty flavour. It’s now been added to our product portfolio and will be available to ice cream lovers throughout Ireland and Great Britain. St Brendan’s Irish Cream Liqueur is also sold internationally and this might lead on to more export business,” he adds.

Glastry Farm Ice Cream is located on a family dairy farm that has been run by the family of ice cream entrepreneur Will Taylor for over 150 years. The ice cream business was launched as a farm diversification in 2007 by Mr Taylor and has proved a immensely successful development. It already supplies its ice cream to hotels and high-end restaurants throughout Ireland.

The new Saint Brendan’s Ice Cream is included in Glastry’s established portfolio of 20 ice cream flavours and three sorbets.

Niche Drinks has been producing Irish Cream Liqueurs, Irish Coffee and Ready To Drink Cocktails of the highest quality for our retail partners in Ireland, the UK, the USA and Europe since 1983. The company recently launched an eight-year malt Irish Whiskey and a blended Irish whiskey, both of which received gold medals in the prestigious San Francisco Spirit Competition.

Mid and East Antrim went wild about food this week as part of Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink, with Deputy Mayor of Mid and East Antrim Borough Council, William McNeilly, taking part in the ‘Cook Your Catch’ event at Blackhead Path Whitehead on Saturday 9 July, celebrating the Borough’s local coastlines and natural larder.
Cllr McNeilly said “This was a fantastic event showcasing our local landscapes and local produce. This workshop was part of our ‘Wild About Food’ project which has been running since May 2016 in collaboration with Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council, funded by Heritage Lottery Fund. The ‘Wild About Food’ project is our contribution to Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink 2016 which is a celebration of everything delicious about Northern Ireland, the epic landscapes, traditions and people that make our food heritage so unique.”

“There are themes each month throughout Northern Ireland’s Year of Food and Drink and Mid and East Antrim has followed these themes. The theme for July was ‘Seas, Rivers and Loughs’ and we have certainly lived up to this by showcasing our seaside town of Whitehead. On the day participants caught cod, coli and pollock, to name a few, and were then able to ‘cook their catch’ and enjoy other fresh local produce at our seaside BBQ. I’d like to personally thank the Carrickfergus Beach and Rockers Sea Angling Club for helping out at the event and teaching participants the traditional skill of sea angling.”

Cllr McNeilly continued “Our ‘Wild About Food’ project continues throughout the year and we will continue to celebrate the fantastic local produce available to us in the Mid and East Antrim area. In August we will be celebrating all things veggie at Eden Allotment Gardens Carrickfergus, and in September, as part of ‘Bread and Baking’ month, participants can enjoy a bread making workshop at Andrew Jackson Cottage, Carrickfergus, and learn how to make traditional fare such as drop scones and soda.”

Event details:
LOVE VEG! Fri 12 Aug 11am-2pm Eden Allotment Gardens, Carrickfergus
Grow your own – how do they do it? Learn from the experts, meet some friendly farm animals and enjoy a bbq – veggie options included.

BREAD MAKING WORKSHOP Sun 11 Sept 2pm-4pm Andrew Jackson Cottage, Carrickfergus
Learn how to make traditional fare such as potato bread, soda bread and drop scones.