By Michelle Crean

Not only did they enjoy a well deserved evening out together after a busy festive season, but employees from two Killarney hotels were also awarded for their dedication to their jobs.

DESERVED: Manager of the Year went to Áine McMahon Reservations Manager at the Great Southern (Second Left) pictured with Roisin O’Sullivan Michael Jacobi (Hayfield Family Collection Managing Director) and Mark Scally. Photo: Don MacMonagle

AWARDS: Ellie Roche from The Killarney Royal received Employee of the Year. She’s pictured at the front with Caoimhe Spillane (HR Manager). Also awarded were: Tetiana Poshka and Nuala Doolan in the middle and Tara Watters Mike Cronin and Rachel Leech at the back. Photo: Don MacMonagle

A wonderful night was had by all from the hard-working teams of the Great Southern and Killarney Royal who celebrated their annual employee awards evenings.

Management from the hotels took the opportunity to mark the occasion with long service and customer service excellence awards presented on the night.

The Killarney Royal awards were held in The Tan Yard in the Killarney Plaza, with the Great Southern awards held in Hilliards.

The Great Southern event saw a number of awards presented, including Employee of the Year which went to Pal Palfi, who has also been nominated in the IHF Kerry Branch Employee of the Year awards.

Manager of the Year went to Áine McMahon, Reservations Manager at the Great Southern. Other winners on the night included Olga O’Donoghue, Damian Ciupka, Sharyaar Akhtar with Department of the Year awarded to the Conference & Banqueting team.

The Killarney Royal event saw awards go to Employee of the Year, Ellie Roche, with other awards going to Tara Watters, Dominika Repinska, Franco Mario, Fred Bastable, Tetiana Poshka and Rachel Leech.

Long service awards were also presented on the evening with Nuala Doolan celebrating an amazing 30 years and Michael Cronin celebrating 15 years with the company.

“We were delighted to welcome our team members in a relaxed and casual atmosphere to celebrate together," Hayfield Family Collection Managing Director, Michael Jacobi, said.

"We are privileged to operate three beautiful hotels but it is the staff in the hotels that really make the difference! Our staff parties are a great opportunity to thank every single one of our colleagues for their hard work and for the incredible hospitality they provide to our guests. After a challenging but successful 2022 we are now looking forward to creating more memorable experiences in 2023.”