12 March 2021
By Elaine Murphy
elaine@TheCork.ie
File photo from 2020: Franciscan Well Brewery atCBA-Awards
Virtual ceremony to take place in April
The Cork Business Association (CBA) has announced the finalists of the ‘2020 Cork Business of the Year Awards’. The overall winners will be announced at their President’s Dinner and Awards Ceremony, which will be held virtually this year on Saturday 17th April 2021.
For the first time in the history of the CBA Awards, which are now in their 64th year, the public is being invited to have a say by voting for their overall winners in each category on CBAAwards.ie. Nominations are also being invited for consideration for the overall Cork Business of the Year awards for a large business and SME.
The Awards, which are run in partnership with sponsors JCD and Centra, event partner Peninsula, and media partner The Irish Examiner, recognising the outstanding contribution of businesses and individuals working diligently across varied sectors of business in Cork City.
The finalists are:
• Covid Resilience and Innovation, sponsored by Failte Ireland
o Trigon Group
o Event Plan
o Mervue Laboratories• Best New Business in Cork, sponsored by LEO Cork City
o The Dean Cork
o Princes St Eat on the Street
o Healy Communications• Best Cork Hotel, sponsored by M&P O Sullivan
o The Kingsley
o The Montenotte
o Hayfield Manor• Best Cork Restaurant, sponsored by The English Market
o The Glass Curtain
o Greenes
o Tequila Jacks• Best Cork Café, sponsored by The English Market
o Izz Café
o Yumm Café
o The Workshop Cork• Best Cork VFI Pub, sponsored by Vintners Federation Cork
o Clancy’s Cork
o Cask
o Barry’s of Douglas• Best Cork Retail Business, sponsored by Cork City Council
o Kilkenny Shop
o Household Linens
o Redchurch Menswear• Best Tourism Art Event, sponsored by IHF Cork
o Royal Cork Yacht Club, Cork300
o Princes Street Eat on the Street
o Cork’s Vienna Woods• Best Professional Services Business, sponsored by ETC PR & Marketing
o Breakthrough Cancer Research
o Global Shares
o B2B Signs & Print• Best Cork Digital Business, sponsored by B2B Signs and B2B Print
o Cork’s RedFM
o Fota Island Resort
o Hopkins Communications• Champion of Cork Award, sponsored by CIT and MTU
o Liam Casey, founder and CEO of PCH International, is nominated for the key role he played in bringing vital PPE from China to Ireland in 2020, and for his outstanding career success. Liam teamed up with U2’s Bono to send €10 million worth of masks, visors, gowns and other vital PPE to Ireland. Bono was quoted as saying ‘he was like Indiana Jones – it was something like Raiders of the Last PPE’. Liam is widely recognized as a thought leader in hardware, supply chain, sustainability, go-to-market strategies and start-up initiatives. He is an entrepreneur known for disrupting traditional product development and supply chain models and for spotting global trends that drive innovative solutions. After founding PCH 25 years ago, Liam set up operations in China, where the company is located today. In 2013, Liam co-founded Highway1, the world-renowned hardware accelerator, which attracts start-ups from around the world.o Professor Mary Horgan is nominated for her outstanding contribution to health care, in particular for her role in the Covid-19 pandemic. She was quoted recently by The Irish Examiner as one of the ‘Women changing Ireland today’. Professor Horgan is President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, the first woman President since 1654 and the first Cork-based person since 1818. She is a consultant in Infectious Diseases at Cork University Hospital, is a member of NPHET, is on the advisory board of the GAA COVID committee, and the World Rugby Return to play strategy. Professor Horgan is also Chairperson of the National Research Ethics Committee for COVID19, is a member of the Report for Rapid Testing COVID19 for the Minister for Health, is a Professor in the UCC School of Medicine, and is former Dean of Medical School in UCC. She is a role model for women in health and a fantastic ambassador for Cork.
o Dr. Patrick Seigne, a consultant in Cork University Hospital ICU, is nominated for his extraordinary efforts to unite ICU staff nationwide to raise €120,000 for 4 charities supporting those most impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic – ALONE (older people), Aware (mental health), Breakthrough Cancer Research (cancer patients), and ICU steps (recovering ICU patients). Dr Seigne was chief organiser of the ICU 4 U charity cycle in September. He also drove a nationwide communications campaign to help shift public mindset away from donating to the medical community and back to supporting those most in need, and he did nationwide interviews to highlight the devasting impact Covid-19 was having on ICU departments. Dr. Seigne engaged credible and interesting spokespeople and supporters to extend the reach of the fundraising and awareness campaign, including An Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Graham Norton, and patients who were in critical care because of Covid-19, including a 24 year old trainee doctor who almost died.
Commenting on the finalists, President of the Cork Business Association, Eoin O’Sullivan, said,
“This year we received a record number of entrants and I would like to congratulate each of our very deserving finalists. To be a finalist any year is a wonderful achievement, but especially this year. The businesses shortlisted have demonstrated true resilience and innovation in one of the most difficult trading years in our history. I wish everyone the very best of luck on the night and would like to sincerely thank all of our sponsors, in particular our award sponsors JCD and Centra, our event sponsor Peninsula, and our media partner The Irish Examiner.”
The finalists were decided by an independent judging panel that included the Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Joe Kavanagh, Seamus Heaney Head of Visit Cork, Alan Healy editor of the Munster Business Hub in the Irish Examiner, John Cleary from JCD (awards sponsor), Kevin Herlihy from Centra (awards sponsor), Tony Kerins from Peninsula (event partner), Paul McGuirk LEO Cork City, Linda Kiely from MASV, and Eoin O Sullivan M&P O’Sullivan and President of the Cork Business Association.
The overall winners will be announced at the CBA President’s Dinner and Cork Business of the Year Awards, which will take place virtually this year on Saturday 17th April. This year there will be a fabulous dine at home gourmet twist where guests can collect a ‘President’s Taste of the City – at Home’ dinner, details of which will be announced next week.
