BY AILEEN MURPHY
The prestigious Lough Erne Golf Resort Hotel which is due to open next Monday has started as it means to go on. The Hotel which promises quality from top to bottom has ensured it's staff is of a similar high calibre.
The first four appointments to the Resort, which boosts a £25 million hotel, luxury lodge and golf course, include Eleanor Curran who takes up the role of Financial Controller.
Eleanor is responsible for ensuring an effective accounts structure is in place throughout the luxury resort.
A former Mount Lourdes student, Eleanor graduated with a BA Hons Degree in Accounting and Finance from the Accountancy and Business College in Dublin.
Her previous employment saw Eleanor work as Management Accountant and Project Work Accountant with the Jury's Doyle Hotel Group, and Management Accountant with the Sean Quinn Group at the Slieve Russell Hotel.
There's another Fermanagh local also on the pay-role, Julie Hetherington, taking up the post of Human Resources Manager, is a past pupil of the Collegiate Grammar.
Julie is responsible for the recruitment drive for 60 full time and 30 part time staff by the luxury resort. She is also responsible for induction of new staff, training and development, management development and performance management.
She graduated from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown with a BSc (Hons) in Communication Studies and from Napier College Edinburgh with a Post Graduate Diploma in Human Resource Management. Previously, she was HR Manager with Acheson and Glover across its six manufacturing and office sites in Northern Ireland.
Adrian Herlihy, a Galway native, comes on board as the Operations Manager, overseeing day to day operations within the Resort which is built to five star specification. He will be ensuring that standards are achieved in every department.
Adrian is a graduate in Hotel and Catering Management from Dromoland Castle graduate programme. He was formerly the General Manager at the Cahernane House Hotel, Killarney, and acting operations manager in events at The Savoy Hotel London where he spent 11 months.
Completing the team is Penny Thornberry, who steps in as Director of Sales and Marketing. Hers is a demanding role, for she is responsible for selling and marketing the Resort to local, national and international clients in the corporate and leisure sectors. Penny is a graduate of the University of Ulster with an MA in marketing. She has 15 years' sales management experience with the Hastings Group, including 8 years at Hastings Corporate Head Office. She was Director of Sales at the Hilton Belfast at the time of its opening.
From Belfast, Penny studied at Leeds Metropolitan University where she graduated with a BA in Hospitality Management. She worked with the Hilton Group, before returning to progress her career in Northern Ireland.
