As he unveiled his brand new forecourt and facilities at Coolquay near Ashbourne, he revealed how this was the first of his three forecourts to feature the whole new drive-through tunnel system.

“What’s different is the vacuum facilities after the car wash – which gives the motorist time and space. There’s no timer although we reckon 15 minutes enables a full, deep vacuum,” he says.

The extensive tunnel car wash features 16 spaces, meaning that even at the busiest times there is no backlog.

“It’s a fantastic system. The German made Christ Wash Systems are probably one of the biggest and best in the world for car washing,” Johnny says.

“It’#s a great company – I went out to visit a few times over the years and was so impressed by their innovation. It’s very customer focused.

“There’s 12 different washing apparatuses – all menu driven.

“On entering the car wash, there’s an interactive screen – a tap on the screen opens two gates and from there it’s all controlled and sequenced.”

And it’s not just cars that get the full treatment at the newly rebuilt destination development in Ashbourne.

One highly innovative concept – and a brilliant idea for the forecourt – was the installation of a dog washing facility.

Anyone who owns dogs knows that washing them can be an arduous and very messy task at home and a carefree dog can leave the car in quite a mess following a country walk.

Called Barks & Bubbles, the system allows customers to have their pets pampered on site as well, with contactless ‘tap and pay’ dog washing facilities.

For full interview, click HERE.

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Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Special Olympics Ireland continued to support its’ network of 292 community based clubs and 7,351 athletes by working diligently to develop new ways to keep its athletes physically and emotionally fit. This included operating virtual clubs, which helped athletes stay connected and motivated, plus it gave athletes more opportunities to get involved in Special Olympics Health, Wellbeing, Leadership and Young Athletes Programmes. For the first time ever, athletes were also given the opportunity to enter virtual competitions and challenges.

Special Olympics clubs are transitioning to living with COVID-19 and many are making the return to sport or are preparing to do so. One such club is Club Ash Special Olympics Club who are receiving training so that their coaches and volunteers are equipped and empowered to adapt their training sessions in a safe way.

Athlete Eoin Carey from Ashbourne met up with the team at Brady’s of Coolquay today to thank them and had this to say: “ I am so happy to be back training at my Special Olympics club, it’s great to see all my friends again and get back to training so I can focus on my health.”

Also in attendance was Matt English, CEO of Special Olympics Ireland who said: “Raising vital funds has been very challenging during the Pandemic. I was thrilled to receive a call from Johnny Brady saying that he heard our appeal funds and wanted to support Special Olympics via Brady’s At Coolquay.  Funds raised are helping us to continue our vision, because, like our athletes, we can’t stop now. We want to reach more children and adults with an intellectual disability across the island of Ireland so that they too can enjoy all the benefits that sport gives which include improved physical and mental health as well as the huge social benefits being part of our clubs has on the athlete and their family unit. I would also like to sincerely thank all of Brady’s At Coolquay’s customers who supported this fundraising drive over the past couple of months, helping to raise an amazing €25,000!. I would like to also wish Johnny and the whole team continued success with their state of the art Platinum Auto Wash at Coolquay”

Johnny Brady, owner of Brady’s at Coolquay furthered “We were delighted to be able to support Special Olympics fundraising appeal, which suffered greatly due to the pandemic, and thanks to the generosity of our customers we raised €25,000 for Special Olympics Ireland. To raise this money we sold reusable branded cloths at our new state of the art car wash – Platinum Auto Wash – where we then matched the customers donation. It has been a great pleasure to meet Eoin, an athlete from our local group Club Ash, and look forward to hearing more of his achievements.”

In addition to supporting their network of athletes, clubs and volunteers, Special Olympics Ireland are proving that they can’t stop now by publishing an ambitious five year strategic plan. Some of the key focus areas are across early intervention through their Young Athletes Programme, building resilient, adaptable clubs, which includes an exciting new inclusive clubs model, new health initiatives, bringing athletes to the forefront and so much more.

Platinum Auto Wash Image (L-R)

Sean O’Sullivan, Eoin Carey, Matt English – CEO Special Olympics, Bryan Menton, Johnny Brady, Aron Evans, Pamela Kavanagh (Marketing and Communication Manager, Special Olympics Ireland).

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For any queries please contact Natalie Dennis, Marketing, JSB Holdings

Natalie@jsbh.ie

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Johnny Brady is not the first in Ireland to make the forecourt the ideal destination for a fuss free place to pamper your pet – there are a few others around Ireland, but here at IFCR we can see that there could be a big demand for more in the future.

For a start – washing a dog at home is a very messy business. Hence, the number of dog grooming parlours that have sprung up across Ireland over the past decade or so. However for many busy families, the forecourt can become the destination station not just for fuel, a clean car inside and out, bathroom facilities, a place to have a good meal, stock up at the shop – and now, on the new-look forecourt near Ashbourne, there’s an on-site dog washing facilities – called Barks ‘n’ Bubbles – Your No 1 Dog Wash.

It’s contactless too – so ideal in times of Covid.

We think this is an inspired idea at IFCR – congratulations to Johnny Brady in Ashbourne for the ingenuity – with all the neighbourhood dogs from far and near looking groomed and squeaky clean.

It’s worth some paws for thought!

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