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A makeover for The Metro with Tennent’s NI
John Downey, Jeff Tosh, Seamus Downey, Stephen Power, Henry Downey and Conor Magill.
Heverlee promo girls Victoria Withers and Zara Shaw.
Liam Kelly, Brian McGeehan and Alan Logue.
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he Metro, one of Derry City’s most iconic and popular venues, hosted a glittering VIP reception recently to mark the unveiling of a great new look and a great new portfolio of draught drinks brands. Art deco elegance has combined with contemporary style and state-of-the-art facilities to create a uniquely stylish venue in the shadow of Derry’s Walls and Metro fans have been toasting their favourite bar’s bright new image in their new choice of products from Tennent’s NI: home of Tennent’s, Magners, Heverlee, Becks, Clonmel 1650, Roundstone Irish Ale, Menabrea and Maggie’s Leap. A Tennent’s Sound Check promotion, which challenged Metro-goers to name Tennent’s Vital playlist tunes, was just one of a series of beer and cider promotions that have been organised by Tennent’s NI to mark the arrival of its great portfolio of draught drinks brands at The Metro. “The Metro is, and always has been, much-loved by locals and visitors alike so our objective was to modernise this unique destination without losing any of its distinctive character and ambience,” said Seamus Downey, co-owner with Henry Downey of the Downey Group, which owns The Metro.
Bernard and Cathy O’Kane, and John Downey and Danielle Carroll.
Northern Whig opens it doors after £300,000 revamp
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John Mulgrew, Brenda Shankey and Martin Breen.
Barry McGovern, Lorraine Ormsby and Joe Devlin.
Ann Moreland and Carolyn Boyd.
Aoife Robb and Sarah Maneely.
56 • HRNI SUMMER
he iconic Northern Whig, situated on Bridge Street, in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter reopened its doors in May after an extensive refurbishment project which cost in excess of £300,000. The investment in the revamp is in addition to the price paid for the building in February by its owners, The Horatio Group, bringing the total investment to over £2m. As a result of the changes, the venue has created an additional 15 jobs, bringing the total number employed at The Northern Whig to almost 50. The major overhaul, which took place over four weeks, saw a vast team of local skilled tradesmen work on the project, with all of the joinery works and furniture sourced from Northern Ireland suppliers. “The Northern Whig is an iconic building in the Cathedral Quarter in Belfast and the experience of giving it a whole new look, for the first time in many years, has been an exciting one,” said Stephen Magorrian, managing director of The Horatio Group. “Spanning over 4,000 square feet, there was a huge amount of work to be done but we have worked with many of Northern Ireland’s finest tradespeople over the years, and were confident of their skills and ability to meet the challenging timescale.” The new look Whig will be managed by Gerard Keaney, with Rick Orr at the helm in the kitchen as head chef (see p8).
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