METROPOLE HOTEL LAUNCHES THIS YEAR’S JAZZ FESTIVAL CLUB
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| Fiona Tierney "Lady Fi" and Jorge Kachmari of the Underscore Orchestra. Pic: Brian Lougheed |
New York Brass Band, The Swing Cats and Harry Connolly on the bill
Dual Dine and Swing options too
The Metropole Hotel, original home of the Cork Jazz Festival, will once again play
Cork's Metropole Hotel Celebrates 125th.
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| Outgoing Lord Mayor of Cork, Cllr.Colm Kelleher (right) presents Roger Russell (General Manager - The Metropole Hotel) (left) and Aaron Mansworth (Managing Director Trigon Hotels) (center) with a portrait of former Taoiseach Jack Lynch. The Jack Lynch Suite in the hotel is named after the former Taoiseach. Pic: Colm Lougheed. |
Its doors first opened in 1897
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| Once Upon A Time. Cocktail |
The Metropole Hotel was, for over half of its first century, a "dry" hotel. The owners, the Musgrave family, were of the belief that alcohol should not be served in their hotel, and as such, the hotel was advertised as "Ireland's Finest Unlicensed Hotel".
The Metropole allowed alcohol to be served at functions such as weddings - those organising a function would arrange for a publican to serve drinks and the hotel would charge a modest corkage fee.
However, the Metropole had no control over how much alcohol guests drank and then it would have to deal with the drunken consequences, while the only revenue it generated was a small corkage fee.
Douglas Vance, the legendary manager, pointed this out to Stuart Musgrave junior one Saturday when there were five or six weddings taking place and people were getting very drunk. Stuart was appalled and the Metropole secured its licence in 1956.
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| King of New York |
No shortage of drink, alcoholic and non, last Thursday evening when friends of the hotel gathered to help celebrate the 125th anniversary. And the hosts had two special cocktails on hand. One was called the King of New York and was a blend of Tequila, Coconut and Orange Bitters.
The other was Once Upon A Time and the mix here was Vodka, Blackberry Syrup and Prosecco. This was our favourite of the two!
I thought they might have used milk in a cocktail for the night. Milk? Okay…. Back in the 50s, British film and TV star Dawn Addams was a guest during the Cork Film Festival and wanted her bathtub filled with milk. She met her match though in Vance who turned down her demand because the people of the city were facing hardship.
That incident and quite a few more were referred to by Roger Russell, the current general manager, when he welcomed guests to the celebration. Many other stars have stayed here including Walt Disney, James Mason, Gregory Peck and jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald.
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| Jazz at the Met |
The Met has been host to the Cork Jazz Festival since its inception in 1978. Indeed, Jim Mountjoy, a former deputy general manager (and present at the celebrations), got the Jazz show on the road here and he got a round of applause for his contribution.
As you can easily imagine there are many stories about the hotel, its guests and workers over the decades and there were quite a few information points in the magnificent ballroom detailing some of them, including the milk bath!
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| Celebrating (l-r): Nicole O’ Leary (Rooms Division Duty Manager), Kylie Basnett (Corporate Sales & M.I.C.E. manager), and Roger Russell (General Manager) |
Roger didn’t forget the workers, past and present. “We’re really glad to such loyal team members. We are nothing without them.” He also announced that the hotel will run tours of the building during the summer and you’ll all have a chance to share in the stories.
Lord Mayor Colm Kelleher, in one of his final duties before handing over the chain on the following day, praised the Met for being a pivotal part of the city, during Empire and Revolution and World Wars. And he too lauded its contribution to the Jazz Festival since its inception. “Think of Jazz, you think of the Met. Think of the Met, you think of Jazz.” And it was then that Jim Mountjoy got another round of applause.
Trigon Hotels Raise €11,000 For COPE Foundation
Sean Abbot, CEO, Cope Foundation, left; Kathleen Linehan, Strategic Director of HR Trigon Hotels; Aaron Mansworth, Managing Director, Trigon Hotels and Craig Kelly, Ability@Work, Metropole Hotel, right. Pic. B Lougheed.
This partnership is a continuation of what has been a very successful working relationship between Trigon Hotels and Cope Foundation over the last few years. Trigon Hotels are long-running ambassadors for diversity and inclusivity in the workplace and have supported Cope Foundation's Ability@Work initiative over the last few years. Ability@Work helps people to try and gain paid employment in businesses around Cork.
Team members at Trigon Hotels have raised €11,000 this year for Cope Foundation and its Ability@Work programme. Trigon Hotels announced at the start of 2021 that Cope Foundation would be their charity partner for 2021. This partnership is also set to continue into 2022.
Trigon Hotel team members participated in and organised several fundraising events over the year, beginning with the 300,000 Step Challenge. Throughout the year team members at Trigon Hotels, which includes the Metropole Hotel and the Cork International Hotel continued to raise money for the charities with events such as the Cork Car Show which raised more than €8,500 and a spinning marathon that raised over €2,000.
Kathleen Linehan, Strategic Director of Human Resources, said: "We have a strong history of working closely with local charities, and were delighted to carry on this tradition this year by working with Cope Foundation and the Ability@Work team. Cope Foundation does fantastic work, and we are delighted we could offer our support this year through fundraising efforts and various other exciting initiatives. We look forward to raising more money for the charity next year.”
Trigon Hotels have provided six employment opportunities in the Metropole Hotel and the Cork International Hotel. Participants are working as waiters, waitresses, concierge, and housekeeping departments.
Marian Hennessy from Ability@Work said: “Ability@Work is delighted to be part of this wonderful partnership, developing inclusive work placements with Trigon Hotels Group. The people we support are fully integrated as part of the workplace as part of the employment opportunities Trigon provide and are valued members of the team. These opportunities have enabled participants to grow in confidence and become more independent. Having a paid job means more financial security for each person. It is brilliant to see how much their self-esteem has grown. This fundraising will mean so much in providing resources and training materials to enable more people move into employment. We really appreciate the friendship and generosity of all the staff in Trigon, who have helped to create such an inclusive workplace.”
Jo-Anne Higgins from Cope Foundation said: “Our overarching objective with fundraising is to raise funds that will help to empower people, promote independence, and generate opportunities for people we support. Each year, we aim to raise €1 million through fundraising to help our organisation deliver more for people and support people to live ‘Your Life, Your Way’. This money does so much – it helps us to purchase houses so that people can live more independent lives in their community; develop person-centred assistive technology projects which promote independence and choice; fund activities and experiences so that people we support can try new things, visit new places and make connections; as well as purchase much-needed resources and equipment for our day and residential centres.”
