Ulster Bank staff cool down after tracker roasting

WHO could blame them? After the roasting Ulster Bank got at the Oireachtas Finance committee, senior officials there could be forgiven for retiring to an upmarket hostelry to cool down with some refreshments.

Last week committee chairman John McGuinness berated the Ulster Bank delegation which included Elizabeth Arnett, head of corporate affairs, formerly the voice of Irish Water. McGuinness said Ulster had a “brass neck” by sending chief finance officer Paul Stanley into the committee instead of departing chief executive Gerry Mallon.

The bank was even accused of robbery during a bruising appearance. But can appearances be deceptive? No sooner had the committee encounter concluded, Team Ulster, including Mr Stanley, decamped to that well-known renovated bank, The Westin Hotel. After a thoroughly heated interrogation, who could blame Ulster for wanting to cool its heels?

THERE is plenty of competition in the luxury hotel market in Co Kerry and the Park Hotel Kenmare has added a new five-star veteran to its management team.

The appointment is actually something of a homecoming for Gerard Denneny, who has been appointed as general manager of the sumptuous hotel.

Denneny started his five-star career as deputy manager of the Park Hotel Kenmare in the mid-1980s and since then has been pampering guests in some of the world’s finest hotels. He has held positions at the K Club in Kildare, the Four Seasons in New York, the Merrion Hotel and Four Seasons in Dublin and London’s Jumeirah Carlton Tower.

He has also been general manager of the Jumeirah Essex House and Viceroy New York and both the Jade Mountain and Anse Chastanet in St Lucia. Denneny has no doubt learned a thing or two since his first job at the Park. John Brennan, MD of Park Hotel Kenmare said: “His vast experience combined with the world-class facilities of the Park Hotel Kenmare gives us much confidence for the future.”