Month: May 2016

Cork International Hotel has scooped the title of best Irish Airport hotel at an awards ceremony organised by www.TravelMedia.ie and sponsored by Blue Insurances.

The hotel near Cork Airport picked up the award on a day when Aer Lingus grabbed two gongs for being the best short-haul and best long-haul airline flying west; both of them ahead of Ryanair and American Airlines respectively.

TravelMedia.ie and Blue Insurance were joined by category sponsors Amadeus, Shannon Airport, Dublin Airport, Great Lakes USA, London City Airport, and Nassau Paradise Island.

More than 160 guests attended the event at the Westbury Hotel in Dublin.

Emirates was voted the best long-haul airline flying east; Red Carnation Hotels won the best international hotel group award; and other big winners included MSC Cruises, Irish Ferries, Uniworld Boutique River Cruises, Sunway, GoHop.ie, Crystal Ski Holidays, and lowcostholidays.ie.

Travel personality Gerry Benson, publisher and editor of the Travelbiz e-zine, was handed a lifetime achievement award

Cork Business Association wishes to congratulate McCarthy’s Meat Market on winning Bronze place in Bank of Ireland 2016 Start-Up Awards (Retail Category).

The event was held in Royal Hibernian Academy gallery in Dublin on Thursday May 26^th.  The judging panel was led by Gavin Duffy from RTE’s Dragons Den.

The CBA President's Cup was held in Cork Golf Club on Thursday 26th May on a brilliant golf day followed by a beautiful meal and presentation of prizes in the Clubhouse.

We thank the many sponsors who helped to make this sold out event so successful.

Well done to Philip Gillivan and the Social Committee for organising a great event and congratulations to the winning team -  Cork Vintners.

Cork Business Association
Afterhours Briefing on Cork City

 Cork Business Association is proud to host an afterhours briefing on developments in Cork City at AIB Bank 66 South Mall on Wednesday June1 at 6pm, sponsored by AIB Bank.  There will also be plenty of networking opportunities.

Guest speakers include…

•  Ann Doherty, Chief Executive of Cork City Council - developments in Cork City.
• Sara McKeown, Port of Cork - attracting cruise business.

Date: 1^st June

Time: Main entrance door opens at 6.00pm for registration.

Location: AIB Bank, 66 South Mall, Cork

Free event, sponsored by AIB Bank

All are welcome to attend.  Limited capacity so please register at http://bit.ly/1UdPUq

The CBA wishes to congratulate The Chicken Inn on winning our first quarter Cork Business of the Year Awards.
The presentation took place yesterday in the English Market.

The Chicken Inn is one of the longest, largest established businesses in the English Market and has been synonymous with quality and value for over 60  years.  Its success comes down to the hard work of the Mulcahy family.   Part of the success of the company,  famous for its poultry products sold over the counter and delivering to local restaurants and hotels, is due to the dedication of the twenty and more staff and the foresight and commitment of the Mulcahy family.

Mary Lane Mulcahy was a co founder with her father John Lane.   Mary started work in the market for £4 a week and still  works daily which makes her the  longest serving member of staff in the English market.

Pat O'Connell President CBA presenting the 1st Quarterly Cork Business Associations' Cork Business of the year award to Mary Mulchay of The Chicken Inn, English Market. Also included are Owen O'Callaghan of O'Callaghan Properties Sponsors, Sean Murphy Irish Examiner, James O'Sullivan Chairman Judging Panel. Photo Billy macGill.

Shopping in Cork City is about to get even better.  Retailers and businesses in the city centre are coming together to host Feelgood Friday, an exciting new event that will take place throughout the streets of Cork on the last Friday of every month.  The first one kicks off on Friday 27^th May from 1-9pm.

There will be a festival-like atmosphere in the city, with lots of free events, live music, free finger food, late openings, special offers, free drinks, workshops and demonstrations, and lots of family fun including a visit from Elsa and Anna from Frozen!  Music Generation Cork City will be creating musical ‘may-hum’ throughout the City Centre all day.

RedFM will also broadcast live from Cork city that evening from their Big Red Bus, and they will have lots of goodies to give away.  Not only that, but there will be FREE parking from 6.30pm to 9pm in North Main Street Car Park.

Feelgood Friday is a Cork Business Association initiative in conjunction with Cork City Council.  Commenting, Lawrence Owens, Chief Executive of Cork Business Association, said, “Cork City is a really unique shopping destination.  Everything is within walking distance and it’s a lively and family friendly place to shop, dine and meet.  The idea behind Feelgood Fridays is to reintroduce shoppers in Cork to the fun of shopping in the heart of their City.  The last Friday of the month also coincides with pay day for many, so people want something to do on that day – and we’re hoping Cork City will be top of mind!  We are encouraging businesses across our wonderful city to make an extra special effort for their customers for Feelgood Friday, so come along and experience Cork at its best”

For full programme details go to corkbusiness.ie/cba-events

The first transatlantic flights from Cork Airport are a step closer. The Irish airline planning the services has secured technical certification for the aircraft on the routes.

The move came ahead of today’s US Department of Transportation (DoT) deadline for submissions on its tentative decision to grant a foreign-carrier permit to Dublin-based Norwegian Air International (NAI).

The technical certification is one of the final regulatory steps required by the airline, but it can not launch the services without the permit.

Aviation news outlets reported, over the weekend, that the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the national body for aviation regulation and safety oversight in the US, has now certified three Norwegian Boeing 737-800 aircraft as ETOPS 180-compliant.

The certification authorises the specified, twin-engine aircraft to fly routes within three hours of suitable airports. Until now, Norwegian’s fleet of 100 Boeing 737-800s have only been certified to ETOPS-120 standards.

The FAA’s decision will allow the low-fares carrier to begin using the jets on its planned, Cork-Boston route, which was due to launch this month, but which was deferred because of delays in securing the foreign-carrier permit. The airline also plans to operate a Cork-to-New York route next year.

NAI’s foreign-carrier permit application is facing stiff opposition from US and European labour unions. Unions for pilots, flight attendants, and mechanics staged a rally outside the White House last week, calling on congressmen to support a proposed bill that could block the permit.

They have accused NAI of locating its headquarters in Ireland, under a ‘flag of convenience’ model, to dodge tough Norwegian labour laws, which prohibit them from hiring contract pilots who may work for lower wages, and have also claimed that NAI’s parent company uses low-paid Asian crew.

The airline has rejected their claims, saying the service will create thousands of jobs on both sides of the Atlantic, and will boost trade and tourism.

“In fact, NAI does not have a single Asian-based crewmember or pilot, and Norwegian has continuously publically stated — and committed in writing to the US DoT — that US- and EU-based crew will be used on NAI transatlantic services,” an NAI spokesman said.

The spokesman said the airline follows the rules and regulations in all the markets in which it operates, and offers its employees competitive wages and conditions.

In a final burst of submissions in recent days, Irish business, tourism, and political interests have urged Irish-American congressmen to support the service. Shannon Airport also backed it, with a formal submission to the US DoT.

Mary Considine, acting CEO of the Shannon Group, the airport’s parent company, said Shannon Airport has been in discussions with the airline since 2014, and an agreement is in place for a transatlantic service, pending the success of the permit application.

“As a longstanding, Irish transatlantic gateway airport, unique in Europe in offering the benefits of preclearance for passengers on both commercial and private aircraft, we have witnessed the economic benefits of direct transatlantic services,” she said.

This year's Cork Harbour Festival will take place June 4-12 .

The festival features a number of events, anchored by the Ocean to City Race on June 4 which features over 30 different types of boat

The Festival is organised by Meitheal Mara, the community boatyard, training centre and charity located in the heart of Cork City. The event is sponsored by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Port of Cork, Failte Ireland and MaREI, and the whole thing is made possible with the help of dozens of Event Partners and hundreds of volunteers.

For a full programme of events go to corkharbourfestival.com

The Cork Business Association was disappointed to learn that CityJet is to discontinue its route from Cork Airport to London City Airport.  The service which commenced last October is to cease on the 26^th June 2016.

Lawrence Owens, Chief Executive CBA commented: “It is disappointing that CityJet has decided to discontinue its London City route particularly as they invested significantly to promote the market over the past eight months.  Obviously this was a commercial decision and simply put not enough people were using the service.  We hope that air passengers will make use of the exciting new CityJet summer routes to La Rochelle and Nantes as well as its charter series to Menorca.”

“However it is important to note that Cork Airport is still in a period of significant growth and expect to see passenger numbers increase by up to 8 per cent this year.  A number of new routes have been added at Cork Airport including Dusseldorf, Cardiff, Leeds Bradford and Southampton.  In addition, Iberia Express will commence its new Madrid service shortly.  We are also hopeful that the first transatlantic route from Cork Airport will become a reality in the near future.” said Mr. Owens.

Irish Community Urges “The Friends of Ireland Caucus” in the US to Show Support for Norwegian Air International’s Application for Foreign Air Carrier Permit

 Cork Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of the Irish Community, has issued a comprehensive and detailed letter to the ‘Friends of Ireland Caucus’ urging them to show support for Norwegian Air International’s (NAI) application for a foreign air carrier permit, which would allow the airline to begin flights connecting the US and Europe. This is in advance of a rally planned in Washington D.C. on Thursday 12^th May by opponents of NAI’s application.  The letter urges this group of over 50 US political representatives with close relations to the Irish diaspora to support NAI’s application on behalf of the hundreds of thousands of American and Irish consumers and business people who will benefit from new, accessible and affordable flights between our two countries and Europe.

This letter, signed by key representatives both regionally and nationally, aims to collectively voice Ireland’s strong support for the recent decision by the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to tentatively grant NAI a foreign air carrier permit and to correct the misleading information that has been distributed by opponents of NAI.

The co-signed letter states that “Opponents of NAI have repeatedly and maliciously impugned Ireland’s aviation safety oversight, regulatory structures and labour protections, and labelled Ireland as a mere “flag of convenience” and the letter clearly corrects this misleading information. This is deeply inaccurate, misleading and simply untrue”.

It also stresses how “The opposition to the NAI permit is based on restricting consumer choice and restricting competition and is not on the grounds of safety or labour. Irish safety standards are amongst the highest in the world and only EU and US crews will be employed who will be subject to EU law.”

“Once approved, NAI is committed to commencing operations on two new routes from Cork to Boston in 2016 and Cork to New York in 2017.  The Cork-Boston route was due to commence in May and has had to be postponed.  This is a highly unfortunate development for our economies and a missed opportunity for US and Irish consumers to enjoy additional connectivity between our Nations”, the letter continues.

“Ireland, being one of the most open economies in the EU, has strong existing trade links to the United States and this relationship has been mutually beneficial for citizens of both countries, with goods and services flowing in each direction.  Irish firms continue to invest heavily in the US, and vice versa.  Irish owned businesses employ over 100,000 people in the US; similar in scale to the level of employment provided by US owned firms based in Ireland. The trading and investment relationship between our two countries is therefore extensive and positive for both economies”.

“Air transport connectivity between the United States and Ireland is a key component to vibrant economic and tourism development between our two great nations.  In the case of NAI’s brand new Cork-Boston route, the ultimate beneficiaries of this air access will be the Irish and US citizens in those regions, as well as the wider economy”.

“We now look forward to reaching a successful final outcome facilitating the first direct transatlantic flights from Cork to Boston, and subsequently to New York”, Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber, concluded.