Seán Óg’s triumphs in leading hospitality awards

Sean Og’s in Omagh has been victorious at the ninth annual Licensed & Catering News (LCN) Gala Awards in the Europa Hotel, Belfast, on Friday night.

During the high profile event, which was attended by more than 450 representatives of Northern Ireland’s hospitality and tourism industries, Sean Og’s collected the title of Tourist Pub of the Year for 2018.

This category is new to the LCN Awards this year and has been introduced to mark the contribution of bars which work particularly hard to attract tourist visitors and to provide them with memorable experiences.

A total of 20 hospitality and tourism awards were presented at the event, including the LCN Entrepreneur of the Year Award, which is new for 2018. It went to Peter Wilson, the proprietor of the iconic Kelly’s Complex in Portrush.

The winner of this year’s LCN Lifetime Achievement Award was hotel veteran, Eugene McKeever of the McKeever Hotel Group.

Speaking during the event, awards organiser, Bill Penton, said that he was delighted with the turn-out and very pleased by the high standard of this year’s finalists in every category:

“This is the ninth time that we’ve staged these prestigious awards and we welcomed more people to The Europa in 2018 than we’ve ever done before,” he added.

“The hospitality sector has embraced these awards from the outset and we were very happy to welcome many new faces along to the Europa as well as very many old friends who compete every year.

“It’s very important to mark and reward the tremendous effort that this whole sector puts in on a daily basis all over Northern Ireland. The hospitality sector is vital to the economy of this country, more so with every passing year, but the sheer talent and the skill of the people that you see competing here tonight goes to show the level of energy and innovation with which the trade is responding to those demands,” added Bill.

“Very well done to all our winners and finalists here tonight.”

Commenting on the success, Jude McElroy said:

“We are absolutely delighted to achieve the award of LCN Tourist Pub of the Year 2018 for Seán Óg’s, Main Street, Omagh.

This fantastic achievement is testament to the dedication of our hard working staff without whom it just would not have been possible. The entire concept of Seán Óg’s was born completely from my father Michaels inventive and creative mind. He designed every every inch of it on an almost hourly basis during construction, recreating an authentic Irish thatched pub with white washed stone walls. A pub that would become the heart of our

town, alive with traditional Irish music sessions, laughter and story telling, welcoming all who come through the doors, visitors, locals and tourists.

As for the name Séan Ógs itself, it is a name used widely throughout the world and my Father decided upon it as a tribute to his nephew who was known all his life as “Young Sean”. Sadly, young Sean died 6 months previous to opening in a tragic accident in America. This is for you Sean.”