This year saw "a lot of new entries", especially from the North, for inclusion in Georgina Campbell's Jameson's Guide: Ireland's Finest Places to Eat, Drink and Stay 2002. Places to watch in the future, she said, are Derry, "where there's a lot going on. Limerick too . . . Then there's Dublin, which always surprises us".
In the North, the new TENsq Hotel in Belfast, opposite City Hall, is the Wyborow Vodka Newcomer of the Year, she said. And the guide's Farmhouse of the Year is Greenhill House in Aghadowey, Co Derry. The latter award was picked up by Carol Millsopp, on behalf of her parents, Elizabeth and James Hegarty, who have run this six- bedroom guesthouse for the past 20 years.
Quality, value for money and hospitality are the three qualities which should be "central to the psyche of every hotelier, restaurateur and innkeeper in the country as the holy trinity essential to the enduring success of Ireland's tourism industry", said Campbell at the awards ceremony in the Jameson's Distillery this week.
The Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue, officially launched the guide. "If the quality, as well as the welcome, is good, people will pay for it," he said, later admitting that he has not yet eaten in one of his county's finest restaurants, Packies in Kenmare, Co Kerry, where Maura Foley is this year's Jameson's Guide Chef of the Year.
The guide's Hideaway of the Year is Wineport Lodge in Glasson, Co Westmeath, on the shores of Lough Ree, "with its own jetty", according to broadcaster Derek Davis, who was MC for the day. The lodge's manager, Norma Wilson, and its head chef, Feargal O'Donnell, were there to receive the award on behalf of the owners Ray Byrne and Jane English. Wilson explained the newly-opened ten bedrooms with balconies onto the lake are attracting many couples (including honeymooners) who want to get away from it all. This Wednesday, wine producer Esme Johnstone, will visit the lodge for a special wine-tasting evening, she said.
Among the Dublin prize-winners were The Mermaid Café on Dame Street, owned by Ben Gorman and Mark Harrell (Bord Glas Creative Use of Vegetables award); Café en Seine on Dawson Street (Jameson's Guide Pub of the Year), and Thornton's on Stephen's Green (Jameson's Guide Restaurant of the Year).
The guide's Hotel of the Year award was presented to Kay and Dermot McEvilly, of the Cashel House Hotel in Connemara, Co Galway, which opened in 1968.
In all, 19 awards were presented at the ceremony, which was followed by a lunch that featured Frank Hederman's smoked eel, mackerel, mussels and roll-mops; and glazed loin of bacon with, of course, Jameson's Whiskey sauce.