A contract with Guyana written in the...
From 5A
I don’t cook a lot of Irish food. My son tells me I cook Irish curry and not Guyanese curry because I cook more of the Indian style curry using coconut milk. His mother cooks Guyanese curry. I like to make my own naan bread. My wife makes the roti.”
At 17 years McGrath gained entry to the Dublin Hospitality School of Management where he obtained a higher diploma in catering and shortly after a bachelor of science in management from Trinity College, Dublin.
He spent a couple of years in Ireland and then worked at the Isle of Wight, Yorkshire and the Lake District for Trusthouse Forte for five years. He left the UK to work at Holiday Inn at the invitation of the owner of the hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (TT). “It wasn’t a good move for me. I was there for five months. After giving notice I then went to work for Trusthouse, former owners of the Pegasus in Guyana after Paul Stephenson who had gone to Guyana in 1986 offered me a job.”
The two had worked together for a brief period in the UK and Stephenson knew McGrath was going to TT.
“I went to Guyana to the surprise of many people at Trusthouse. Seven people had come to Guyana as part of an orientation process and they all went back and said there was no way they were going to work here. They were surprised when I took up work in Guyana. I hadn’t gone for a site visit before.”
Relating “a true but weird story,” McGrath said, “In 1986 when I was working in the UK, Paul and I went to a fortune teller one night. Paul went in before me and he was ashen faced when he came out. When I went in this lady told me, ‘I just told your friend he is going to work overseas and he is never coming back. In my mind, I said, ‘Oh God, this is bulls..t.’ Then she said to me, ‘And you’re going with him but not at the same time, sometime down the road.’ I said, ‘This woman is off her head.’ We were driving back at the hotel and Paul asked me, ‘What did she tell you? I told him what she said. He then said he was offered a job in Guyana that very day and he was going. I always said it was in the stars or something.” Stephenson has, however, returned to the UK, where he now resides.
Son John
McGrath is married with one child, John, who is in Barbados on a ten-week internship with Oceana Hotels. John has been accepted into EHL Hospitality Business and Management School in Switzerland and is starting classes in February 2023. EHL is consistently ranked the best hospitality management school globally.
According to McGrath, John is excited about his upcoming sojourn in Switzerland and subsequently his return to Guyana “to take over” the management of the family business.
John, a third dan black belt karateka, never stopped training throughout his school life in primary and secondary school. He secured a place at Queen’s College after writing common entrance and topped the world in the 2021 Cambridge International Advanced Subsidiary in English Language while a student at School of the Nations. He scored 99 out of 100 among one million students from 136 countries who wrote the exams.
John, now 18 years, gained his black belt (first dan) at eight years, his second dan at ten years and his third dan at 12, becoming one of the youngest third dans in the world. Fourth dans are not
awarded until the age of 21.
Because of John, McGrath became involved in corporate governance, fundraising and the development of the Karate College in the country. In 2010 he became the president of the college, a position he held for five years.
“I am delighted to say the new dojo at Liliendaal is going to be opened in March 2023. Even though I’m no longer involved in the college’s administration, I’ve been involved on the periphery in an advisory capacity and helping with fundraising. During my term as an executive we brought some international tournaments to Guyana, including the South American Cup. We took Guyanese teams to Barbados, TT and Canada, where our children won medals and trophies. Our next tournament is going to be in Guyana 2023.” The senior McGrath was inducted into the Karate Hall of Fame for service to karate.
THAG
McGrath served as president of the Tourism and Hospitality Association of Guyana in 1998 and again in 2014. “In my first two-year tenure we published the first edition of Explore Guyana
magazine and it is still in publication today. In 2016 I started Guyana Restaurant Week with 12 restaurants. I had a lot of convincing to do that this was going to work. It is now offered twice a year. The last edition before Covid-19 struck we had 30 odd restaurants on board. I’m very proud of what Guyana Restaurant Week has achieved over the last six years. It has forced a lot of restaurants to up the bar in terms of quality and creativity for catering and dining.”
McGrath has always been involved in THAG in one way or another, either on the executive committee or on the marketing and finance committees.
He has advocated and made recommendations for tourism over the years with government officials as part of delegations for the development of the sector. He was a member of the Guyana Tourism Authority board of directors on two occasions. He is also involved with the tour company Wilderness Explorers, which promotes tours in Guyana.
“I have a finger in many pies from the hotel side of it, the resort side of it, the tour operator side of it. That is what I love doing.”
Cara Quiz night
The midweek trivia game started off in 2004 at the first bar opened at Cara Suites in Middle Street in an attempt to bring patrons on a Wednesday night. It was supposed to be for six weeks but it did not stop and continued until December 2021.
“We raised over $24 million for local charities over the years. For the first few years it was done purely for fun. Then we saw an opportunity to raise some money for charity and we played for a different charity every month. We tried playing online for a while during the pandemic but it was not the same. It was interesting that when we were playing online people joined us from around the world. People from the US and the Caribbean played on a regular basis.”
McGrath is receiving emails and calls on a regular basis to restart. Even if there is no game before the year ends, he said, one will be held during the Christmas season. He recalled, “Some played from the very first day we started. Some came to Guyana for two, three years, played and left. Some came, made new friends at the quiz and some even got married.”