Tag Archives: Falls Hotel

TWO Clare-based businesses, have been shortlisted as finalists in the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Energy Awards 2022. The Falls Hotel and Spa and the Lahinch Leisure Centre in partnership with Tipperary Energy Agency, are among the cohort of energy-conscious businesses and communities that have been selected for their dedication to an energy-efficient way of working. The annual awards recognise and reward excellence in sustainable energy in business, communities, research, buildings, renewables and the public sector. A total of 33 applicants across 10 categories have been shortlisted. Winners will be announced at the national awards ceremony in October, this will return in person for the first time in three years following online ceremonies during Covid. The Falls Hotel & Spa has been nominated for its six-year campaign to reduce its CO2 emissions. The hotel’s sustainability journey started with smart energy changes, such as switching all of the light fittings to LED, fitting aerators on all water supply systems and using …

A CLARE hotel has received national recognition for a renewable energy project which sees it produce its own green energy. The Falls Hotel & Spa in Ennistymon were among the winners in the SEAI Energy Awards. The hotel took home the trophy in the most ‘Innovative Deployment of Renewable Energy’ category for their hydroelectric turbine project that provides clean, renewable hydro energy to the hotel. Michael McCarthy, General Manager, Falls Hotel, said, “We are delighted to receive this recognition, especially given the huge investment we have made with our hydroelectric turbine. “We are extremely proud of this award. With 145 bedrooms, a leisure centre and a spa complex, we went from having a large carbon footprint to being carbon neutral in five years. We love knowing that we are powering the hotel with a clean, sustainable energy source.” Being based in the Burren and Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark hotel owners the McCarthy family were conscious of trying to …

THE rain may have been falling, but that didn’t dampen the spirits at Clare’s hotels, B&Bs, guest houses and self-catering accommodation on Wednesday as they welcomed guests for the first time this year with the easing of Covid-19 restrictions. “It’s an exciting day, it really is, you can feel it around the place,” Sharon Malone, Falls Hotel marketing and digital media manager told The Clare Champion. “Everybody is back in their uniforms, some who haven’t seen each other in quite a while, and everything looks fantastic. Even the rain has made the flowers outside look so fresh and colourful, everything looks brand new. “We had training in the hotel last week which brought the teams back together and, it’s funny, but by the end of it you could tell it had just lifted everybody’s spirits and focused everybody again on getting back to doing what we enjoy doing. “We’re lucky that we have most of our core crew coming back …

  HOW do you run a 145 bedroom without any electricity costs? It’s quite easy, in fact, when you can harness the power of water from an iconic cascade in the heart of Ennistymon. A recently commissioned 220 kilowatt water turbine is providing the Falls Hotel with 100% of its power, and even generates surplus to requirements, during periods of heavy rain. The cascades, which begin just below the bridge crossing the Cullenagh River, in the oldest part of the town, roar like thunder in full flow and are a great tourist attraction. In July, the historic Falls Hotel will have an opportunity to gain big publicity as 80 rooms have been booked by international media covering the Irish Open, something that assistant manager, John McCarthy is looking forward to. “Apart from the media, we are full for the Open and that is good news for us and the town and the general area. People won’t spend all day in …

A MAJOR international conference at the Falls Hotel & Spa in Ennistymon in November will be the forum for the launch of a world-wide sustainable tourism destination programme. The Burren & Cliffs of Moher UNESCO Global Geopark, which is hosting the ‘GeoparkLIFE: Tourism for Conservation’ conference, has produced a code of practice tool-kit and a heritage sites and trails management model under its five-year GeoparkLIFE conservation programme, which concludes this December. The associated destination manager guides and supporting tool-kits include an online code of practice in sustainable tourism for tourism businesses, a monitoring app for trails and heritage site management and an online data management tool for planners, managers and communities. The project coordinators say the tools, developed in conjunction with local businesses, communities and conservation agencies, enable a balance between tourism development and the conservation needs of the North Clare region.

WORK being carried out to develop a hydroelectric system at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon will not interfere with the long-term welfare of the renowned cascades that front the hotel, according to a Clare Green Party member. Work is ongoing to complete the project, which was given planning permission by Clare County Council. “It looks terrible at the moment but the hotel depends on that scenic view more than any other business in the town and, long term, it will be fine. The hotel is one of the greenest in Ireland. They have bees, an orchard and they grow organic food and now they’ll have hydro-power. Then the hotel will be run on hydro-power completely and as long as the falls go back to looking the way they did before, I have no issue. One of the main stipulations of planning is that long term it will go back to looking the way it did before,” said Róisín Garvey of …

A North Clare man was discriminated against on the grounds of gender by a well-known hotel, when it allowed “a female member of staff enter the gents’ changing room while it was occupied”, it has been found, in what may be the first case of its kind in Ireland. In the extremely unusual case, The Falls Hotel was ordered to pay Lahinch man, Thomas Flanagan compensation, after it was determined that the Ennistymon hotel had discriminated against him by treating him less favourably than a woman would have been if the circumstances were reversed. Mr Flanagan contacted the director of the Equality Tribunal on May 13, 2014, claiming The Falls Hotel, Ennistymon, had discriminated against him by subjecting him to regular occurrences of a female member of staff entering the gents’ changing room of The Falls Hotel, “which resulted in his discrimination, harassment and victimisation between October 2012 and January 2014”, contrary to the Equal Status Acts 2000 and 2012. …

It’s going to be another big day at the Falls Hotel in Ennistymon for the General Election 2016 Clare Constituency count. The Clare Champion captures the atmosphere in photos by John Kelly   DAY 2 IN PHOTOS:   DAY 1 IN PHOTOS: