This marks the 10th consecutive year that Gala Retail has supported Special Olympics Ireland, demonstrating its steadfast commitment to supporting local communities and athletes across Ireland.

The Special Olympics Ireland Winter Games, being held in Craigavon, Northern Ireland from Friday 22^nd to Sunday 24^th March, will gather athletes from all corners of Ireland. Comprising of two sports, Alpine Skiing and Floorball, the Ireland Winter Games is set to be one of the largest games yet with 2024 being the first time that three regions will participate in Alpine Skiing and all five regions represented in Floorball.

Gary Desmond, CEO of Gala Retail, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership and the upcoming Winter Games.

“Over the past 10 years, we have witnessed first-hand the great work that Special Olympics Ireland contributes to communities across Ireland. We’ve experienced many #GalaSpecialMoments and supported the athletes in their journeys from area games right through to world games.

“With athletes and clubs in locations all across Ireland, Special Olympics has a place in the heart of many communities and with almost 230 group stores in towns and villages throughout Ireland, there’s a real synergy with this partnership.

“We are thrilled to be continuing our journey with Special Olympics Ireland and we wish all of the 207 athletes the very best of luck in the events.”

Speaking ahead of the games, Matt English, Chief Executive, Special Olympics Ireland, added: “Gala Retail has been an invaluable partner to Special Olympics Ireland, championing our athletes and providing crucial resources to facilitate their participation in events like the Winter Games. Without the support of sponsors like Gala, we couldn’t continue to provide our athletes with all the benefits that go with being part of the Special Olympics community.

“I am extremely proud and am looking forward to watching our athletes represent their county in the upcoming Ireland Winter Games.”

The Ireland Winter Games will be a highlight for Special Olympics athletes right across Ireland this year, having been postponed in 2020 due to Covid-19. For many, this will be their first opportunity to compete on an All-Ireland level. These Ireland Games are the qualifying event for the World Winter Games in Turin, Italy in 2025.

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The challenge took place earlier this year, with participants running, walking, swimming or cycling to rack up miles in aid of the local charity.

Action Mental Health has grown from humble beginnings in Downpatrick in 1963. The charity promotes the mental health and well-being of people in Northern Ireland and helps break the stigma of mental illness in the community.

Henderson Retail’s store employees, along with their Mallusk based colleagues, have taken part in this annual challenge for the past three years, raising a total of over £50,000 and covering 27,727 miles.

The top number of miles covered for 2024 was achieved by David Wedt from SPAR Cherryvalley who covered 1,992.1 miles alone and Gillian Kelly from Henderson Technology was the top fundraiser who raised £465.

A number of stores also showed their support with in-store fundraisers including bucket collections and turning their store purple, Action Mental Health’s signature colour.

BREAK STIGMAS

Jonathan Smyth from Action Mental Health said: “We want to say a huge thank you to all staff who got involved and raised an amazing amount of money for our charity. One in five adults in Northern Ireland will be affected by mental ill-health and this donation will help us continue to support people who need our services, changing the lives of many people across the country.”

Bronagh Luke, Head of Corporate Marketing at Henderson Group added: “I want to thank all store employees and their Mallusk based colleagues who took part in the Miles for Mental Health Challenge, as well as our generous shoppers who kindly donated.

“Action Mental Health is a deserving charity which does such important work, helping to break stigmas and supporting people across Northern Ireland when they need it most.

“Our partnership for the past three years with Action Mental Health has been so important to raise awareness of the charity’s valuable services. We are looking forward to continuing support for the charity throughout the year as well as providing health and well-being support for our colleagues.”

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If you haven’t had a chance to read the new Yearbook & Marketing Guide for Ireland’s Forecourt & Convenience Retailer – click on the link to see all the latest news, interviews, features, picture pages and articles in over 170 pages – including our annual trade directory, Fuel Review, Symbol Review and our guest columnists – such as Fuel for Ireland’s Kevin McPartlan, RGDATA’s Tara Buckley, CSNA’s Vincent Jennings and PRA’s Gordon Balmer.

Includes:

Includes:

• An in-depth interview with Minister for Retail Neale Richmond

Plus:

• Circle K’s Paul Dixon

• Greenergy’s John O’Leary

• Maxol’s Brian Donaldson

• Centra and SuperValu’s Ian Allen

The Annual IF&CR Fuel Review

Full Symbol Review

Plus…

Articles on Daybreak and Gala

Industry comments from:

• CSNA’s Vincent Jennings
• Fuels for Ireland’s Kevin McPartlan
• Kantar’s Emer Healy
• Petrol Retailers Association’s Gordon Balmer
• RGDATA’s Tara Buckley
• SIMI’s Brian Cooke

And others…

Store profile: The brand new Inver forecourt at Castlecomer, Kilkenny

In-depth features on:

• Forecourt Technology – Bring on the Bots – are you ready for AI?

Picture pages:

• Irish Grocers’ Benevolent Fund Dinner
• IF&CR Review of ‘23

And of course, the annual Directory and Marketing Guide

An exceptional publication for an exceptional sector – not to be missed!

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Wishing all our readers, advertisers, supporters and contributors a happy, peaceful Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

IFCR December 2022 (forecourtretailer.com)

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The association says it could take 20 years for Bus Eireann to convert its entire fleet to electric vehicles, so in the meantime the company should be exploring the use of lower emission fuels in order to reduce its carbon footprint right away.

Speaking to IF&CR, spokesman Kevin McPartlan said that the government needs to recognise that there needs to be stepping stones towards a zero carbon future.

“We believe that policy has to be technology-neutral. What I mean by that is that the government shouldn’t be saying we are going to have X number of electric vehicles – they should be talking about zero emissions vehicles,” he said.

“If you only talk about electric vehicles, you send a message to the market that there is no point in investing in other zero emissions technologies. We want to talk about advanced synthetic fuels and biofuels.

“We also have to recognise that there is not a binary situation – it’s not either stay as we are or immediately become zero emission. There needs to be stepping stones.”

Earlier this year, Bus Eireann announced that it would be replacing half its fleet with electric and hydrogen vehicles over the next nine years as part of a plan to cut carbon emissions.

While the company is targeting a 30% increase in passenger numbers over the same period, it insists it can handle growth while still reducing emissions.

However, Fuels for Ireland – formerly the Irish Petroleum Industry Association – says the company could start to cut its carb emissions right away by switching to one of the new lower carbon fuels.

“Already on the market, there is a 20% biodiesel blend available, B20 diesel, which reduces emissions from diesel engines by 15% with no capital expenditure,” Mr McPartlan said.

“If you think about the state fleets – for example, Bus Eireann and all of the diesel it uses – they have said we’ll have electric buses on the road. But we see how old some of the buses on the road are, so you would have to wait for the whole fleet to be replaced.

“Why not put them on biodiesel today and reduce the emissions by 15%? That to me is an example of what I describe as the impossible perfect being the enemy of the possible good.”

Some policymakers are only interested in electrifying everything instead of realising that the process could take 20 years and exploring other options in the meantime, he said.

“Let’s make those changes today and that in no way inhibits our capacity to make the changes that they are planning in the future, “ Mr McPartlan said.

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