Connect with the new 2016 Failte Ireland Food Champions

Fáilte Ireland today announced the names of 16 new emerging food champions who will represent the importance of food to tourism and visitors to Ireland. They will join six existing food champions as part of the Food Tourism Network Development programme. The group will work together with their local community to help build Ireland’s food tourism reputation, sourcing and activating ideas to encourage visitors to stop more, spend more and stay longer.

These new food champions were chosen from over 400 nominations following a detailed selection process. The tourism authority had sought nominations for emerging food champions with a resounding passion and belief in Irish food who actively influence and shape the future of Irish cuisine and food tourism in their region.

All those selected come from a wide variety of backgrounds and they all have different roles in the championing of Irish food. But they are united by their immense pride and their absolute conviction in Ireland’s food tourism potential. They want to shout from the rooftops that Ireland has a unique food experience; one that is honest and authentic, one that is as much about the people as it is about the product and the recipes. But they also want to educate, develop, connect the dots, to ensure that what we promise is what we deliver.

Fáilte Ireland’s new 2016 Food Champions
(front row, l to r) Jacinta Dalton, Gabriel Faherty, Olivia Duff, Ketty Elisabeth, Garrett Fitzgerald, Chris Molloy, Ruth Healy and Brid Torrades. (Back row, l to r) Kevin Ahern, Seáneen Sullivan, Claire Dalton, Tom Flavin, Judith Boyle, Ivan Varian, Aine Maguire, Pádraic Óg Gallagher, Patrick Ryan, John Relihan, Anthony O’Toole and Niall Sabongi. Photograph: Pat Moore

Each of these people has intimate knowledge of their own region and the food and food producers operating in their area. They are an essential local connection to what is happening on the ground - they are mediators, they are disseminators and they are all excellent communicators.

Failte Ireland's Food Champions are helping to tell Ireland’s Food Story.

I have listed the new Food Champions here with a Follow button to all their Twitter accounts so that you can connect with them and listen and learn about the food activities in the different regions of Ireland's Ancient East, Dublin City and County and The Wild Atlantic Way.

The 2016 Failte Ireland Food Champions on Ireland's Ancient East are:

 Anthony O’Toole (New) Culinarian Press, Ferns, WEXFORD

 Claire Dalton (New) Dungarvan Brewing, WATERFORD

 Gearóid Lynch (New) The Olde Post Inn, Cloverhill, CAVAN

 Judith Boyle (New) Beer Sommelier, Publican, KILDARE

 Patrick Ryan (New) Firehouse Bakery, Delgany, WICKLOW

 John Relihan (New) Holy Smoke, CORK

 Kevin Ahern (New) Sage Midleton, CORK

 Olivia Duff (Existing) The Headfort Arms Hotel, MEATH

The 2016 Failte Ireland Food Champions in Dublin:

 Garrett Fitzgerald (New) Brother Hubbard, Capel Street, DUBLIN

  Ivan Varian (New) Dalkey Food Company, Dalkey, DUBLIN

 Niall Sabongi (New) Klaw Restaurant, Temple Bar, DUBLIN

 Ketty Elisabeth (New) French Foodie in Dublin Ltd, DUBLIN

 Seáneen Sullivan (New) L. Mulligan Grocer, Stoneybatter, DUBLIN

 Pádraic Óg Gallagher (Existing) The Boxty House, Temple Bar, DUBLIN

The 2016 Failte Ireland Food Champions on the Wild Atlantic Way:

 Áine Maguire (New) The Idle Wall, Westport, MAYO

 Gabriel Faherty (New) Aran Islands Goats Cheese, Aran Islands,  GALWAY

 Chris Molloy (New) The Lemon Tree, Letterkenny, DONEGAL

 Tom Flavin (New) The Strand Hotel, LIMERICK

 Mark Murphy (Existing) Dingle Cookery School, Dingle, KERRY

 Jacinta Dalton (Existing) Dept of Culinary Arts, GMIT, GALWAY

 Ruth Healy (Existing) Urru Culinary Store, CORK

 Brid Torrades (Existing) Osta Cafe, SLIGO

The Food Ambassadors continue to help to spread the vision and values of Irish food tourism among visitors, media, food tourism businesses, and other stakeholders. They are leaders in the food scene in Ireland and internationally. All are widely known and well regarded in Ireland’s food community and use their reputation and profile to help further develop food tourism in Ireland.

You can Follow Failte Ireland on Twitter here:  

For more details on each of the new 2016 Failte Ireland Food Champions (and details of the existing Failte Ireland Food Ambassadors) click here: www.failteireland.ie

All these people are united by a strong belief in Ireland’s immense food tourism potential and their desire to help spread the word that Food Tourism is a vital part of the Future of Irish Tourism.

You can Follow me (Irish Food Guide) on Twitter here:   

I'm proud to know many of the new Food Champions and I'm looking forward to meeting up with the people that I haven't met yet, over the next year. Congrats to all selected. Having been part of the Food Champion program myself,  I know you'll definitely have an wonderful and interesting year ahead!

Zack

Enter your Irish Food & Beverage Tourism Experience in the 2016 World Food Trekking Awards

The recently launched 2016 Food-Trekking Awards, organised by the World Food Travel Association (based in the USA) is the world's first global competition for recognition of excellence in food and beverage experiences for travellers and Ireland has as much of a chance of winning as anywhere else in the world!

Eating and drinking are a crucial part of any traveller experience. Put simply, one hundred percent of visitors to any destination, local or international, must eat and drink! Food and drink represents the largest component of visitor expenditure in Ireland and exceeds the average spent on ‘bed and board’.

Travellers are always seeking the next great food and beverage businesses, destinations or experience and guests to Ireland can return home with memories of a plain old burger and coffee, or they can return with memories of fantastic local Irish food and drink experiences. People just need help identifying and even recognising those experiences. In addition to travelling across country or the world to eat or drink, we can also be food travellers in our own town, city or region.

Over the last ten years we, here in Ireland, have rediscovered a pride in our Irish food product and are now being recognised all over the world for our excellent Irish Food. We are slowly but surely eliminating the Google perception that Irish food is only bacon and cabbage, potatoes and Guinness! Far from it!

As drinking beverages is generally an implied and associated activity of eating and therefore the term is used to cover all aspects of  food and drink tourism. (Internationally, the term “Food Tourism” is now used as opposed to "culinary tourism" which tended to be interpreted as an eating only experience.)

Since the launch of the Failte Ireland National Food Tourism Implementation Framework in 2011, much time, money and energy has been put into developing assistance for food/beverage producers, unique hospitality providers and food service providers to help them tell their food story. Failte Ireland now have a complete and concise section of their website dedicated to helping develop Food Tourism in Ireland.

I believe that Food Tourism is a vital part of the future of Irish Tourism so much that I started a business called Irish Food Tours Ltd. that helps food producers and food service providers get connected with those looking to explore our Irish Food Tourism. Anyone running a business that offers guests an opportunity to eat and/or drink quality products or to see an excellent food product being grown or made on-site has the potential to be a world class Food Tourism business here in Ireland.

The  World Food Travel Association judges are looking for the world's best travel destinations with exceptional food and drink tourism opportunities. Why is your destination the best? Do you offer an outstanding food and drink culture for visitors and locals to enjoy? Do you hold any gastronomic events or do you have simply the best farmers markets? All organisations with a mandate of promoting a destination's food and drink are also invited to apply.

Categories in the 2016 World Food Trekking Awards include:

• Best food or beverage destination
• Best wine experience
• Best beer experience
• Best food or beverage tour operations
• Best food-service experience for travellers

Reviewing the applications for the competition is an international panel of judges:

Steven Shomler, Journalist, Author, Radio Host (Portland, Oregon, USA)
Gabriela Ibarra, destination marketer formerly with Visit Mexico (Guadalajara, Mexico)
Livio Colapinto, Owner, Zest Food Tours (Italy)
Benjamin Brown, Journalist and cruise industry expert (Las Vegas/Los Angeles, USA)
Stephan Berrouet Durand, Chef, founder of Haitian Culinary Alliance, author (Haiti/New York City) 

Prizes
There will be one grand prize, a second, and third prize for each category (only 15 international winners).
In addition to a physical prize, winners will also gain tremendous global recognition for an entire year and the visibility potential for your business and the destination area is huge, so Enter your Business today and lets get Ireland really noticed on the World Food Tourism Map!

The Closing Date for entry is 1st March 2016 and Winners to be announced on April 1.

To Enter your Food Tourism Business go to: http://worldfoodtravel.org/foodtrekking-awards

Best of Success to all involved!
Zack

Ireland takes part in unique World Food Travel Association study into Food Tourism

Erik Wolf, Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association (WFTA) has announced the largest Food Tourism Study ever conducted. The new global food and drink tourism research breaks new ground and includes global data, beverage tourism and PsychoCulinary profiling.

PsychoCulinary profiling is an accepted profiling methodology which analyzes each destination within the context of the thirteen PsychoCulinary food-tourist profiles: a Gourmet, Authentic, Localist, Adventurer, Eclectic, Ambiance, Organic, Budget, Innovative, Social, Trendy, Novice and Vegetarian.

Following on its groundbreaking past research, the World Food Travel Association is raising the bar again with the undertaking of the largest food and beverage tourism study ever conducted. The survey, which will be released in early May 2016, is a significant evolution over past research. 

The Reasons why this new Food Tourism research is significant are:

• It is the first multi-national research study about food and drink travelers. Eight destinations are included in this first benchmark study: Ireland, Finland, Scotland, Louisiana, California, the State of Oregon, Willamette Valley in Oregon and the Basque Country in Spain. Additional destinations will be added annually. 
• It is the first food tourism research study that also measures interest in beverages, including wine, beer, cider and distilled spirits. 
• This research will expand significantly on the WFTA’s PsychoCulinary profiling methodology first developed in 2010 and will analyze each destination in the context of its own PsychoCulinary profile.
• It is the first food/drink tourism research that will survey both inbound and outbound food/drink travelers to/from the included destinations. 
• Research specialists in food and drink tourism have designed the survey, giving an additional level of depth and understanding which will add value to the findings. 

Erik Wolf, Founder and Executive Director of the World Food Travel Association 

The World Food Travel Association (WFTA) is a non-profit and non-governmental organization and is recognized as the world’s leading authority on food tourism. Its mission is to drive economic development for the food, drink, travel and hospitality trade. The Association was founded in 2003 by its Executive Director Erik Wolf and today brings innovative food tourism solutions and thought leadership to 35,000+ industry professionals in 135 countries.

John Mulcahy, Head of Food Tourism for Fáilte Ireland, said, “A significant proportion of a visitor’s time on holiday in Ireland will be spent experiencing food in some way – either consuming it in local dining or hospitality establishments, visiting specialist shops and markets or having a hands on artisanal experience. As a consequence, the experience the visitors have of food will play a pivotal part in determining their satisfaction with their overall holiday. Fáilte Ireland’s vision for food tourism is to ensure that Ireland is recognised for its memorable food experiences which evoke a unique sense of place, culture and hospitality."

John Mulcahy, Head of Food Tourism for Fáilte Ireland

Mr Mulcahy added, "This study will aid in validating the efforts made over the last strategy, presenting our industry with a comprehensive view of the current perceptions around the Irish food experience, thus informing us of where Ireland is placed on a global scale in terms of its food offering."

Supporting the new World Food Travel Association research in a significant way are several international organizations including Fáilte Ireland, the Louisiana Travel Promotion Association, Travel Oregon, Oregon’s Wine Country/Willamette Valley Visitors Association, Basque Tourism Office in Spain, Visit Finland, Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences in Finland and the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Additional project support comes from Visit California and Visit Scotland. 

Food Tourism is a vital ingredient to the future of Irish Tourism

Fáilte Ireland was formed in 2003 under the National Tourism Development Authority Act and they became responsible for supporting Ireland’s tourism industry by keeping Ireland as a quality and competitive tourist destination. Researching and bench marking emerging tourism trends is an important facet of their work; as Fáilte Ireland continues to strengthen the holiday experience for visitors. They pride themselves on investing in tourism amenities and infrastructure, and constantly developing tourism education. Fáilte Ireland also has a unique national-specific campaign, Discover Ireland, which operates a year-round integrative marketing strategy to encourage locals to vacation within their beautiful home country.

Interested parties can pre-order the Food Tourism report here.

For info on Irish Food Tours Ltd see www.IrishFoodTours.ie

Zack

Irish celebrity chef, Colin Fassnidge, showcases Irish Food on Australian TV

Tourism Ireland, the organisation responsible for promoting the island of Ireland overseas as a leading holiday destination, recently unveiled its new three-year strategy to grow visitor numbers from Australia. The strategy sets out challenging and ambitious targets which will see, among other things, the number of Australian visitors to the island of Ireland grow by at least 20% by the end of 2017. 

An Australian TV show, My Ireland with Colin, has lately been beaming images of Ireland, our spectacular scenery and our world-class food into the homes of more than one million Australians in a brand new cookery series fronted by a Dublin-born chef and restaurateur named Colin Fassnidge.

The show is a new two-part cookery series which sees Fassnidge return home to discover the changing face of food in Ireland. Channel 7 in Australia, working with Tourism Ireland in Sydney, produced the new series which has already aired to an audience of more than one million viewers.

Colin Fassnidge, the Dublin-born chef and restaurateur is a big celebrity in Australia

Colin has become a celebrity chef in his adopted Australia and runs two successful restaurants (Four in Hand and Fourteen) in Sydney. He is a guest judge on a popular cooking game show called My Kitchen Rules, which airs in Australia (also on Channel 7). Last autumn, he rode a Ducati 1200 around the island of Ireland, followed closely by his film crew capturing footage for My Ireland with Colin seeking out some of our culinary delights, local produce and hidden gems. He visited his family, went on a tour of his childhood haunts in Dublin and re-discovered the spectacular scenery of Ireland.

Diane Butler, Tourism Ireland’s manager for Australia and New Zealand, said: “We were delighted to work with Channel 7, to bring Colin Fassnidge and his crew to Ireland to film this brand new TV series. It’s a fantastic opportunity to get positive exposure in Australia, showcasing Irish food at its best. The island of Ireland is becoming increasingly well-known for its food offering, with a reputation for high quality, natural produce used in both traditional and innovative dishes. My Ireland with Colin is also showcasing our spectacular scenery to more than one million people, helping to inspire ‘foodies’ and prospective holidaymakers to come and discover the culinary delights of Ireland for themselves.”

 Diane added: “Building on the strong performance of recent years, and the increased number of one-stop flights via the Middle East, we have set challenging targets for the 2015-2017 period. I am confident that our new, focused strategy will deliver on the targets we have set for growth in Australian visitors, between now and 2017.” 

Australia gets a taste of Achill Mountain Lamb and Newport Black Pudding!

It's great to see Irish people all over the world helping to promote their home country as a premier holiday destination and as a blossoming Food Tourism destination. With our food producers and chefs here in Ireland preparing some of the finest food in the world and our national tourism promoters and partners investing in international advertising of that fact, I really believe we are on the cusp of a new dawn in Irish Tourism - Food Tourism.

And like I always say, A Rising Tide will Lift all Boats. Well done Colin!

Zack

Feast or Famine - A Cultural Food Journey of the North West of Ireland

Derry-born chef and cooking lecturer, Emmett McCourt, has just launched a new cookbook tracing the heritage of the traditional foods from the northwest counties of Ireland. The history and recipes, however, reflect similar regional cooking from all over Ireland.

Feast or Famine - A Cultural Food Journey of the North West of Ireland, published by Guildhall Press, is not just a cookbook. It is a remarkable journey through the varied influences that have shaped the style of cooking that is unique to the neighbouring counties of Donegal and Derry. These two counties may have been separated by borders over the years, but they have evolved together like brothers down through the centuries.

"Not only is Irish food amongst the best in the world but our food heritage connects people and places across the globe" says Emmett. "This book offers a window into the past concerning the history of regional Irish food. It also builds positive community relations, conveying the story of our varied cultures through food heritage while renewing the passion and belief in local produce."

Chef Emmett has spent several years researching the history of food in the region and has uncovered ancient recipes, long lost cooking techniques and rediscovered long lost Irish treasures such as the Lumper Potato, which is now undergoing careful growing research to in Ireland to keep it from extinction. He has traced recipes from the time of the Viking settlers and the ancient Irish Chieftains, when venison, turnips, seaweeds, shellfish, fish and wild boar were everyday staple foods along with honey and rhubarb.

This book is also beautifully photographed

When the Scot-Irish emigrated to America, they took with them their distilling skills, producing whiskeys, bourbons and moonshine across all the United States. Fishermen from Inishowen in northern County Donegal, who settled in New England, helped found some of the finest and most successful fishing ports in the world today!

There are some significant business success stories that started from humble beginnings in the northwest of Ireland. McCains, based in Canada, are the largest French Fry maker in the world and their ancestors hailed from Castlefin in County Donegal. A Scots-Irish farmer, originally from Derry and who became the richest oil family in America was Samuel Getty. He also gave his name to the town of Gettysburg, the site of President Lincoln's famous address. 

The McIlhenneys from Milford invented the now-famous hot sauce known as Tabasco! Also recalled are the heady days when Lough Swilly was the Herring capital of the world, Magilligan was a world leader in farmed Rabbits and Derry City was producing millions of gallons of whiskey for the US. The book is full of similar stories.

Lough Neagh Eel with Roasted Beetroot, Nuts, Celeraic
in a Broighter Gold Rapeseed Oil Dressing

.

Emmett has researched and re-developed almost 50 recipes for Feast or Famine and his journey has brought him to know some of the north west's greatest story-tellers, modern-day artisan food producers and chefs. The book is also beautifully photographed and is quickly becoming a research book of choice for many of Ireland's college departments of both catering and Irish history. The history and recipes reflect similar regional cooking all over Ireland.

Wheaten Bread cooking in a Griddle Pan over an open Turf Fire

Emmett McCourt's Wheaten Bread Recipe
(with Metric & US Cup measurements)

Ingredients (makes 1 medium loaf)
1 Cup/150g Plain Flour
1 Cup/150g Wholemeal Flour
1 Cup/100g Rolled (Porridge) Oats
1 tsp salt
2 tspn Baking Powder
2 tblsp/40g Butter
2 tblsp/40g Caster Sugar
1 Cup/250ml Buttermilk
(if you have no buttermilk, add juice of 1/4 lemon to ordinary milk - zack)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/Gas 4/ 350°F. Line a baking sheet with greaseproof paper.
2. Stir the flours, baking powder, salt and sugar together. Rub the butter into the flour mixture.
3. Pour in the buttermilk and work the mixture to a thick, but not too soft, consistency.
4. Shape the dough and place on your baking tray. Pierce the centre, cut an "X" on top, 1/3 of the way through and sprinkle with a little more wholemeal flour.
5. Bake for 35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. The bottom of the bread should sound hollow when tapped in the centre.

Emmett Mc Court with Rene Redzepi of Noma Restaurant.
Both chefs share the same commitment to preserving the history of a country's food provenance

Feast or Famine - A Cultural Food Journey of the North West of Ireland is an amazing book that simultaneously educates the palate and the mind. It will become a must-have bookshelf addition for all who have a passion for Irish Food. It is available to purchase online from Guildhall Press at www.ghpress.com

The Irish Food Heritage Project are hosting the Official Launch of "Feast or Famine - A Cultural Journey of the North West of Ireland" at 11am on Tuesday 17th June, at the Titanic Quarter Campus of the Belfast Metropolitan College. This is going to be a culinary showcase with guest speakers, followed by a finger buffet lunch and book signing at the Linen Lounge Restaurant.

Get along and hear the story behind this amazing book and get your own signed copy while you're there!

For further info on the Launch contact Gavin Doran at Belfast Metropolitan College on:
 gdoran at belfastmet.ac.uk

Zack.

Failte Ireland names it's new Food Tourism Ambassadors

Fáilte Ireland today announced the names of the eight new food tourism ambassadors that have been selected to represent Ireland and join the Food Tourism Network Development programme.

This followed a very well subscribed selection process after the tourism authority had sought nominations for emerging food champions with a resounding passion and belief in Irish food who actively influence and shape the future of Irish cuisine and food tourism in their region.

The focus for the initiative in 2013 is on individuals located along the Wild Atlantic Way - Ireland's first long-distance touring route, stretching along the coast from Donegal to West Cork. 

The 2013 Failte Ireland Food Champions are:

Hugh O’Donnell, Kitty Kellys & Hughies Bar, Killybegs – DONEGAL

Deborah Evers, Clareville House Kitchen Gardens, Ballyvaughan - CLARE

Jacinta Dalton, Dept Culinary Arts, GMIT - GALWAY

Martin Bealin, Global Village Restaurant, Dingle - KERRY

Mary McGettigan, A Taste of Donegal Food Festival, Donegal Town - DONEGAL

Benoit Lorge, Lorge Chocolatier, Kenmare – KERRY

Zack Gallagher, Irish Food Tours, Donegal Town – DONEGAL

Ross Quinn, Vasco Restaurant, Fanore - CLARE

(See detailed individual Profiles below)

Speaking today, Helen McDaid Fáilte Ireland’s Food Tourism Manager said - “We received nominations for many able ‘would be ambassadors’ from along the Wild Atlantic Way route – many thanks to both the nominees and nominators for the interest that they have shown. Our focus continues to be on ‘emerging’ food champions who have been working hard in their regions and can now become a part of this network which will support and guide them as they continue to develop food tourism experiences.

Helen McDaid, Food Tourism Manager at Failte Ireland

“Last year’s programme was a great success with many of the champions going on to do great work for food tourism in their areas. The focus this year is on our new project the Wild Atlantic Way and how we can further develop the visitor experience by promoting our local and regional food experiences.” 

As they embark on their role as Fáilte Ireland Food Champions, the group will now travel on a food tourism benchmarking trip to Norway to see first-hand a real-life linkage between a driving route and food tourism – this trip will provide great insight and learning opportunities for our industry here in Ireland. 

The group will have the opportunity to meet with the people behind a range of food businesses in Norway who are utilising food tourism as part of their development and business generation strategy. 

Looking further ahead, Ms McDaid commented - “Once the group returns home the focus will be on working together with their local communities to help build Ireland’s food tourism reputation and encourage visitors to stop, spend and stay longer on the Wild Atlantic Way. 

“Working together and developing networks and relationships within their localities will help to develop engaging food experiences to truly utilise food tourism as a workable economic development strategy.”


Fáilte Ireland, the national tourism development authority, was established in 2003 to guide and promote tourism as a leading indigenous component of the Irish economy. The tourism and hospitality industry employs an estimated 185,000 people and generates almost €5.7 billion in revenue a year. 

Meet the Failte Ireland Food Champions 2013 

• Hugh O’Donnell, Kitty Kellys & Hughies Bar, Killybegs – DONEGAL 

In addition to his own businesses, Hugh was involved with the Donegal Good Food Taverns and launched and ran the Killybegs Seafood festivals. He represented Donegal in the Tyrone/Donegal Good Food initiative which produced The Little Black Recipe Book and several cross border food fairs. He has served as chair and vice chair of Tir Boghaine, a rural development company for the last 5 years and currently sits on the steering team of the Donegal Good Food initiative. 

• Deborah Evers, Clareville House Kitchen Gardens, Ballyvaughan – CLARE 

Deborah is a food producer with a range of preserves called Burren Kitchen Garden. She is secretary of the local farmers market, member of the marketing committee of the Burren Ecotourism Network as was on the co-ordinating committee for the Burren Food Trail & Burren Weekly Food Series which was launched in April, 2013. 

• Jacinta Dalton, Dept Culinary Arts, GMIT – GALWAY 

A lecturer at GMIT, Jacinta has a strong industry background with which she maintains close links. She co-founded The Foodie Forum now in its second year and has been actively involved in many food festivals. Jacinta was also selected by Galway County Council for an educational visit to France with the objective of promoting Galway and the local food products available. 

• Martin Bealin, Global Village Restaurant, Dingle – KERRY 

Martin is a chef who runs and manages his own restaurant. He sources local goods, grows all his own vegetables and promotes local artisan producers. He was one of the founding members of the Dingle Food & Wine Festival and of Blas na hEireann, the national food awards. 

• Mary McGettigan, A Taste of Donegal Food Festival, Donegal Town – DONEGAL 

Mary has been instrumental in setting up the Taste of Donegal Food Festival and using food tourism as a way to increase visitors to Donegal Town and the surrounding area. She has collaborated with a number of community groups in the area and has worked hard to attract a wide range of artisan food producers to this event. This event has now been recognised as one of the must attend events in the North West. 

• Benoit Lorge, Lorge Chocolatier, Kenmare – KERRY 

A pastry chef by trade, Benoit set up Lorge Chocolatier and has developed the business to include factory demos, chocolate courses and a traditional chocolate shop. Benoit has also been very involved in the establishment of the Kenmare Food Carnival, a 2013 Bonane Gathering event and he works closely with community groups in his region. 

• Zack Gallagher, Irish Food Tours, Donegal Town – DONEGAL 

Zack has been writing a food-news website, www.IrishFoodGuide.ie, since 2007. Over the last few years he has built networks and created links between a wide range of producers, farms, sea fishing enterprises and the very best food providers who specialise in modern Irish cuisine and use of local produce. He has now created ‘Irish Food Tours’ with an aim to provide a complete food tourism experience for inbound tour operators. 

• Ross Quinn, Vasco Restaurant, Fanore - CLARE 

Ross, owner and sole chef, brings a fresh, locally sourced, adventurous cuisine to a small village. Locals and tourists enjoy the freshly caught fish, his own organically grown vegetables, foraged foods, meat and cheeses. He has established working relationships with B&Bs and a range of other businesses in the area to offer 'eco adventure' packages combining users of surfing and climbing schools and walking guides with accommodation and food. 

The Wild Atlantic Way 

The Wild Atlantic Way is Ireland’s first long-distance driving route. Stretching from the Inishowen Peninsula in Donegal to Kinsale in County Cork, the route will offer visitors an opportunity to truly discover the West Coast. Following a comprehensive public consultation process, the 2,500km route has been finalised and includes 156 discovery points along the way. 

At this stage the route comprises of a main spine but in time, a series of looped itineraries will be created to further develop the experience for visitors. Along with the relevant local authorities and other stakeholders, Fáilte Ireland has been working on the Wild Atlantic Way for the past year with significant progress to date in terms of route identification and an overall brand. Over the next year the focus will be on preparing a signage plan for the route along with ensuring the discovery points are visitor-ready. 

In addition, the tourism authority will be working with tourism businesses along the route environs to help them deliver and package their Wild Atlantic Way experiences. A series of workshops will take place focussing on the main target markets of Great Britain, France, Germany and the USA. A marketing strategy for the overseas promotion of the project will be rolled out in time for the launch of the route in March 2014.

Visit the Failte Ireland website at http://www.failteireland.ie