This article is from page 33 of the 2007-11-13 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 33 JPG
THE mix of foreign languages in Kilkee’s Stella Maris Hotel is grow- ing but it’s not because of the rapidly rising ratio of non-national workers that are now in the tourism trade.
“Italian is the latest language we have around the place,” says Ann Haugh, who took over the hotel nine years ago and has just doubled bed- room numbers to 20 in a major refur- bishment that added on a new restau- rant and cellar bar.
The Italians have joined German and Polish engineers engaged on the massive re-fit of the Moneypoint power station to bring down emis-
sions in the world-wide war against global warming.
Recalling that the building of Moneypoint cushioned the Kilkee resort through lean tourism years in the 1980s, Haugh said, “The power station 1s a mainstay of year-round LUIS UNL ISe
“We only close on Christmas Day and besides the Moneypoint engi- neers, the rest of the off-season trade comes from business travellers. In the summer peak, it’s back to the tra- ditional summer visitor business.”
Being a family-run business is the key to keeping the hotel operating throughout the year, the mother of four explains. Having managed a res-
taurant before, she and her butcher husband Martin took over the hotel. “I can turn my hand to cooking the breakfast and other meals in the less pressurised time of the year.” Daughter Michelle (27) not only co- manages the hotel with her mother but also set up the website for the business. Eldest son Eoin (23) looks after the bar and becomes boss to his father, who helps out at weekends. Even though their younger daugh- ters are not directly involved in the hotel, they get called into action whenever they are at home. Twenty-one-year-old Orla is train- ing to be a flight attendant with Ryanair while 18-year-old Emma is
going to be around the place for the next year because she injured her spine in just her second day at col- lege in Sligo.
“T only realised how much time the hotel takes up when all the re- furbishment was going on,’ Haugh confesses.
“Even though I was looking after the building programme most of the day, we had a normal family life the rest of the time. But that has all just gone since the hotel got back on Le ae
It helps that the pace and pressures are much reduced in the low season. “We still employ 14 people though,” Haugh adds.