The CELS class rolled up their sleeves this week in the Shannon College Training Kitchen and under the supervision of Chef Ryan made a very tasty batch of festive mince pie lollipops. See pictures below of our 12 chefs in training! 

At the Alumni Presidents Chain Handover Ceremony held this week at the Carlton Castletroy Park Hotel, Maurice Bergin, MD of Hospitality Solutions Consulting Ltd, was announced as Shannon College of Hotel Management’s new Alumni President. Mary Buckley, Group Operations Director, Tifco Hotels and outgoing Alumni President, formally handed over the chain and the role to Maurice Bergin at the ceremony.

As her final task as Alumni President, Mary Buckley presented Shannon College with a cheque for €8,000 towards scholarships for students starting their degree studies at Shannon College next year. The money was raised at alumni networking events throughout the year and will be provided as scholarships to students requiring financial assistance to pursue third level education. 

 Shannon College Alumni have been making their mark on the Irish and international hotel industries for 60 years. The current alumni network has over 2,000 members reaching across 49 countries worldwide. The incoming president, Maurice Bergin, graduated from Shannon College of Hotel Management in 1981 and has over 30 years’ experience in the hospitality sector ranging from hotels, restaurants, guesthouses, marketing, lecturing, food hygiene management and more recently as an environmental specialist. He is currently the Managing Director of Hospitality Solutions Consulting Ltd. and Managing Director of Green Hospitality Programme.

€8,000 Scholarship Presented by Alumni to Shannon College

Phillip J. Smyth (Director, Shannon College), Mary Buckley (Outgoing Alumni President), Kate O’Connell (Registrar, Shannon College), Maurice Bergin (Incoming Alumni President)

Limerick Based Graduates Attend the Chain Handover Ceremony

Elaina Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald’s Woodland House Hotel), Denis Deery (Carlton Castletroy Park Hotel),  Roger Beck (Parkway Shopping Centre), Maurice Bergin (Hospitality Solutions Consulting Ltd), Phillip J. Smyth (Shannon College), Ralph Parkes (Fine Wines & Parkes Properties), Donnacha Hurley (Absolute Hotel & Spa), Henry Anderson  (Bacchus Wines) Tracy Hegarty (Shannon College), Kate O’Connell (Shannon College), Mary Buckley (Tifco Hotels), David Fitzgerald (Fitzgerald’s Woodland House Hotel), Mary Bergin (Airport Lodge Cork) 

 Meet the 2011/2012 Charity Club at Shannon College! The Charity Club is a student led club which organises fundraising events throughout the academic year. It is a tradition since the foundation of the college that the students organise events with the support of staff members, within the college and externally to raise money for the chosen charities. The aim of the 2011/2012 club is to raise a total of €10,000 durning the academic year for the four designated charities: 

• Limerick Mental Health Association
• Barretstown Children’s Camp
• Clare Crusaders
• Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland

 See info further down this page for more details on the partner charities.

Upcoming Events

Previous Events

Bag Pack 
December 2011, €1,050 raised

Quiz Night
October 2011, €331 raised

Bake Sale
November 2011, nearly €300 raised

Partner Charities

The fundraising efforts of the Charity Club will this year will go to four worthy charities; Limerick Mental Health Association, Barretstown Children’s Camp, Clare Crusaders and Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland. For more information on the great work of these organisations, please see the charity profiles below.

Limerick Mental Health Association:

Limerick Mental Health Association is affiliated to and shares the aims of Mental Health Ireland (MHI) a national voluntary organisation and is active in assisting to meet the mental health needs of people in the Limerick area. The main activities of Mental Health Ireland include supporting local Mental Health Associations, actively campaigning and advocating, providing an information service and developing mental health promotion programmes.

Barretstown Camp

Barretstown is a specially-designed camp that provides therapeutic recreation programmes for children with serious illnesses, and their families.  It was founded by Hollywood actor Paul Newman in 1994 and modelled on his renowned Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Connecticut, USA. Excellent, unobtrusive medical supervision helps children with cancer and other diseases forget illness, learn to have fun and rebuild their confidence and self-esteem. The Barretstown camp is located at a fairy-tale castle in the beautiful foothills of Ireland’s Wicklow Mountains.

The Clare Crusaders

The Clare Crusaders Children’s Charity provides much needed therapy to children with special needs in areas such as cerebral palsy, autism and down syndrome and other conditions. The Clare Crusaders Children’s Clinic, located in Barefield Co.Clare is run on a voluntary basis and provides a variety of therapies to over 190 children in the Clare region. The services are free of charge and include speech therapy, occupational therapy, special education, physiotherapy and reflexology.

Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland

Autism assistance dogs Ireland (AADI) was founded in 2010 to provide highly trained assistance dogs for children with autism and their families. The charity provides a valuable service that can have life changing effects for children with autism and their families and our assistance dogs are provided free of charge. Autism assistance dogs Ireland (aadi) relies exclusively on voluntary contributions as it does not receive any Government funding.

Contact the Charity Club

If you would like to get in contact with the Charity Club at Shannon College, please contact Alan Hynes or Lorraine Yiu by email:

Alan Hynes (Year 3 Student):  alanh365@hotmail.com

Lorraine Yiu (Year 3 Student):  lorraineyiu@hotmail.com 

It you would like to get in contact with staff member at Shannon College, please contact Ms. Elaine Giltinane, Placement Officer and Professional Skills Instructor by phone or email:

Ms. Elaine Giltinane
Email: elainegiltinane@shannoncollege.com
Phone: 061 712597

At Irish Hospitality Institute Founders’ Banquet and Hospitality Management Awards last week, Shannon College graduates received the top awards across many categories: 

Lewis Quinn
Graduate of 2010
Hospitality Graduate of the Year

Gillian Chambers
Graduate of 1993
Human Resources Manager of the Year

Shane Downey
Graduate of 2005
Young Hospitality Manager of the Year

Edward Stephenson
Graduate of 1989
Enrolled to the College of Fellows

Anthony Moloney
Graduate of 1999
Nominated for Environmental Manager of the Year

The prestigious awards ceremony was held at the Four Seasons Hotel, Dublin and were presided over by this year’s President of the IHI, Fergal O’Connell. Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport, Leo Varadkar, T.D. was the Guest of Honour and officially opened the ceremony, commenting “hospitality is the bedrock of the tourism industry, so it’s only appropriate to honour those who have made an outstanding contribution in this field over the past year. The nominees, and the recipients, have achieved the highest levels of excellence in the hospitality sector.”

Photograph
Back Row L to R: 
Phillip J. Smyth (Director, Shannon College), Deborah O’Hanlon (Placement and Operations Manager, Shannon College)
Front Row, L to R:
Shane Downey (Graduate of 2005), Gillian Chambers (Graduate of 1993), Lewis Quinn (Graduate of 2010)