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Dean O'Mahony crowned May Winner of the Waterford Sports Awards
Dean O’Mahony is the May winner of the Waterford Sports Awards in association with WLR and the Granville Hotel.
The martial artist secured his fourth successive senior national title, before going on to represent Ireland at the European Karate Championships in Armenia in May as part of a five-strong Irish team.
Speaking when accepting the award, Dean said: “Growing up, I always wanted to win something like this and it’s a real honour to win a prestigious award. It’s been a brilliant year for me so far. I was shocked when I heard that I had won, I’m delighted.”
Stephen Bennett crowned April Winner of the Waterford Sports Awards
Stephen Bennett is the April winner of the Waterford Sports Awards in association with WLR and the Granville Hotel. The Ballysaggart man starred for the Waterford senior hurlers as they captured the Division 1B Allianz National Hurling League title - hitting 0-12 in the Deise’s 1-27 to 2-20 victory against Offaly at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Speaking when accepting the award, Bennett said: “It’s lovely. I’ve had a few over the years. I’ve been lucky enough - even back when we were 18. It’s always a nice night in January as well.”
Granville Hotel is the Best of the Best!
The Granville Hotel has been recognised among the best hotels in Ireland, earning a coveted spot on Tripadvisor’s Best of the Best Hotels list for 2025 for the second consecutive year. This year the Granville Hotel jumped three places and ranked No. 11, placing it among the top hotels in Ireland for quality and quantity of guest reviews.
The annual Tripadvisor Travelers’ Choice Best of the Best Awards are the highest recognition given by the platform, celebrated by only 1% of hotels worldwide. The Granville Hotel stands out particularly for its exceptional atmosphere, prime location in the heart of Waterford city and for their outstanding service. We join an exclusive group of properties in this year’s rankings, which include a number of five-star hotels, some of which are considered among the best in the world.
Joe Gough crowned March Winner of Waterford Sports Awards
Joe Gough is the March winner of the Waterford Sports Awards in association with WLR and the Granville Hotel. Gough won both gold and silver at the World Masters Indoors Championships in Florida - capturing gold in the 800 metres and silver in the 1500 metres.The West Waterford AC man has now won ten individual world gold medals and has high hopes to add to his haul at European level before 2025 comes to a close.
Speaking when accepting the award, Gough said: “It’s a privilege to get the award. It’s always special to be acknowledged locally. For me, it acknowledges all the people who have helped me in achieving everything - my family, my wife Ailish, my coach Dick Murphy, my training partners Paschal Halley and Paul Savage - and my club West Waterford. All of these people have helped me to attain the success I’ve had. To be awarded at local level is special.”
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Kate and Sarah Hickey crowned February winners of Waterford Sports Awards
SETU Waterford Wildcats' stars and sisters, Kate and Sarah Hickey, are the February winners of the Waterford Sports Awards, in association with WLR FM and the Granville Hotel. February was an incredible month for the Hickeys as they both played starring roles - securing a regular-season National Super League title for the SETU Waterford Wildcats for the first time in 24 years. Kate and Sarah combined for a total of 127 points for the Wildcats as they recorded four successive victories to secure the regular season crown for the first time since 2001.
Speaking when accepting the award, Sarah said: “It’s amazing to win the award. February was such a good month for us, a lot of tight games but we just kept going and winning the league for the first time in so long was brilliant for everyone in the club and we’re really looking forward to the playoffs.” Kate added: “Achieving what we’ve achieved has been brilliant and we’ll have great memories from that, and to do that with your sister and having her by your side on the court and all the way through definitely makes it even better.”
We are a Fáilte Ireland Outstanding Employer for 2025!
Our Management Team and HR Coordinator Racheal Campbell have been working hard to make the Granville Hotel an Outstanding Employer in Fáilte Ireland's Employer Excellence Programme. Over the recent years we have made a number of changes and introduced new opportunities for our team.
Staff Appreciation - We have introduced more Staff Apprecition Days (and Weeks!) along with Summer Events and Staff Days Out.
Exmployee Recognition -Introduced our Go the Extra Mile (GEM) Awards where managers can give staff 'GEM Points' for going the extra mile in the duties or for a guest. There is also a monthly GEM Winner which is peer voted and Employee of the Year Awards at our annual Christmas Staff Appreciation Event.
Work Life Balance - We have stopped split shifts in all departments while ensuring all team members have the opportunity for appropriate rest between shifts.
Career Development - Giving the team the opportunity to sign up for professional development training courses, providing further education options and offer internal promotion opportunities. We also introduced at 'Day in My Shoes' which gives staff an opportunity to experience other departments and learn new skills.
Staff Engagement - Putting an emphasis in ensuring all new starters receive their check in chats and all team members receive appraisals. Department meetings are happening every two months at a minimum which provides an open forum for staff to give their input and put forward ideas.
Teamwork - We have various teams such as Sales, Customer Care and Sustainability where each department has a representative.
Thank you to all of our team for their continuous hard work and commitment.
Tom Ahern crowned January Winner of Waterford Sports Award
Tom Ahern is the January winner of the Waterford Sports Awards, in association with WLR and the Granville Hotel.
The Ardmore man, who celebrated his 25th birthday this week - had an exceptional January, where his stellar performances for Munster saw him sign a new long-term contract with the province and the IRFU. He starred in United Rugby Championship wins against Saracens and Dragons, whilst also playing a prominent role in a European Champions Cup thriller against Northampton at Franklin Gardens. His stellar form saw him earn a call-up to the Ireland senior mens’ squad ahead of their Six Nations clash against Scotland.
Speaking when accepting the award, Ahern said: “I’m delighted to receive this award - it’s always fantastic to be recognised by people in Waterford. I’m based in Limerick but there’s always been fantastic support from everyone in Waterford and in Ardmore and it means a lot so I’d like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s played their part and everyone from WLR and the Granville Hotel.”
