Your St. Patrick’s Weekend Drinks Guide

I doubt anyone requires guidance on choosing a suitable beer for St. Patrick’s Weekend! So I’ll focus my attention on a suitable wine or great cocktail.

Irish Stew & Italian Rosso – a spiritual experience!

With our Italian Wine Sale coinciding with St. Patrick’s weekend, and Italy producing so many food friendly reds, I’d highly recommend pairing our Tuscan red – Castellani Arbos Sangiovese @ £7 with your homemade Irish Stew. Alternatively, if you’re choosing to make your stew with beef, look further south in Italy and try our Tombacco Aglianico @ £8. If you’ve never tried Aglianico, this star of Southern Italy is considered to be one Italy’s top 3 wine grapes. Its full-body and rich tannins make it a perfect match for a rich hearty stew.

Try Boxty & Chablis – Saintly Syns!

For many of us Boxty was something we only saw on the food menus of Irish bars in America. Surprisingly, Slimming World have now managed to revive the world of potato pancakes and introduced it to a whole new generation in Northern Ireland. The Boxty pancake may be very low in syns, but for a more sinful treat I’d highly recommend topping your Boxty with crème fraiche and Irish Smoked Salmon with a side of Chablis wine! The fresh, crisp, citrusy minerality of our Andre Goichet Chablis @ £12 will pair beautifully with this luxury Boxty treat.

And to finish….. the greatest Irish Cocktail ever…

The Irish Coffee! No debate required, just a simple recipe….

Perfect Irish Coffee Recipe

35ml Jameson Irish Whiskey

1 cup of Freshly Brewed Coffee

1 teaspoon of Brown Sugar

Topping of Lightly Whipped Double Cream

Optional grating of nutmeg on top

Centra is bringing enhanced convenience to people travelling from the North Coast with the arrival of its highly anticipated brand-new store and petrol forecourt located outside Cloughmills on the A26, the main road between Coleraine and Ballymena.

The bright and contemporary 3,400 sq ft store, which opened its doors to the public today (Tuesday, 23rd July), combines high convenience shopping with an extensive food-to-go offering providing a welcome stop for those travelling in the vicinity.

Operated by experienced retailer Oran McCloskey, Centra Frosses Road is the 108th Centra store to open in Northern Ireland.

Commenting on the opening, owner Oran McCloskey said: “I am very proud to have opened the doors of Centra Frosses Road which will provide a convenient shopping and refuelling point for customers on the move as well as a great amenity for the surrounding community. I’d like to thank the team for all their hard work so far in getting the store ready and we look forward to welcoming customers and providing them with a one-stop shop for modern convenience.”

Offering a wide range of options for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the store has something for everyone whether travelling home in the evening, on the road for work or out for the day with the family.

Amenities include a hot and cold deli counter with freshly made sandwiches and salads, and a selection of hot food to go. The Frank and Honest Coffee dock provides a wide selection of hot drinks and features 100% compostable coffee cups, plastic free coffee capsules and Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee beans, while a digital loyalty app offers customers a free coffee after earning ten digital stamps. Sweet treats are also available from the Scoop Ice-cream counter.

The new store features a Solo fuel forecourt as well as a seating area, customer Wi-Fi and customer toilets.

Speaking today, Trevor Magill Managing Director for Musgrave in Northern Ireland said – “We have worked with Oran under the Mace brand for several years and are delighted to continue our partnership as he opens his first Centra store which is a fantastic addition to both the local area and the wider Centra network.

“The store will be a real asset to those travelling the busy commuter route from the North Coast – delivering first-class convenience along with great value for shoppers. We wish Oran and his team the very best.”

In addition to an extensive product range, including the new Good Food Locally Sourced range which supports local suppliers*, shoppers will benefit from over 100 special offer items every week and over 300 own brand products up to 40% cheaper than better known brands. This is as well as the Epic Deals promotion on four big brand products, which change every three weeks.

The store has also been built with sustainability in mind, as Musgrave and its brands work to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2040. Features include solar panels, LED lighting and top-grade energy efficient refrigeration. Features include LED lighting, digital screens and top-grade energy efficient refrigeration.

Shore Road store creates 12 new jobs

Experienced store owners from Centra York Road in Belfast, Gareth and Tracey Beacom, have opened the doors to their second Centra, located on the Shore Road in Newtownabbey.  The 1,700 sq ft store and petrol forecourt is a welcome addition to the area supporting 12 jobs and combines convenience retail with an extensive food-to-go and grocery offering.

Bright and contemporary, Centra Trackside which officially launched with a family fun day on Saturday (24th June), is a fantastic amenity for the local community and on the go customers.

The comprehensive range includes a deli counter offering customers freshly made sandwiches and salads, or a selection of hot food to go.  Shoppers can also enjoy a hot drink to go with the Frank and Honest Coffee 2.0 coffee dock which provides a wide selection of hot drinks and features 100% compostable coffee cups, plastic free coffee capsules and Rainforest Alliance Certified coffee beans, while a digital loyalty app offers customers a free coffee after earning ten digital stamps.

Speaking today, store owner Gareth Beacom said –

“We’re delighted to have opened the doors of our second Centra store. It will provide a convenient shopping and fuelling point for customers on the move  as well as a great amenity for the local community. The team and I are looking forward to welcoming customers instore and providing them with a one-stop shop for modern convenience.”

The new store also features a Nicholls fuel forecourt with a 24/7 pay at pump service, along with car washing and laundry facilities and extensive parking, while EV Charging points will be installed.  In-store services include PayPoint, Lottery and an ATM.

Aligning with Musgrave Group’s, (owners of the Centra brand) sustainability goals, the new store also features new LED lighting, energy-efficient refrigeration, and digital screens to reduce the store’s energy consumption and carbon footprint.

Musgrave NI’s Retail Sales Director, Paddy Murney said:

“The new Centra store in Newtownabbey will provide the height of convenience and value for local shoppers. With the cost of living continuing to affect our communities, it’s clear that keeping household costs down is important to our customers. As part of Centra’s commitment to value, our shoppers will benefit from over 200 special offer items every week and over 300 cheaper own brand products. That’s on top of our Epic Deals on four big brand products every three weeks.”

Centra is also committed to supporting local suppliers, with Musgrave NI spending more than £160m on local food and drink annually.

Paddy continued: “We work with more than 3,000 local farmers, partner with over 150 local suppliers and stock over 3,500 local products across our stores providing shoppers with the freshest produce and range of choice.”

The store’s opening hours are: 6.30am – 10pm Monday to Friday, 8am – 10pm Saturdays and Sundays.

Murphy’s Centra Greenbank and forecourt on Warrenpoint Road in Newry has officially relaunched following an investment of £650,000.

Local family owners, Seamus & Madeline, their son Declan and daughter Niamh Browne, have made significant changes to the store, including a large extension to the rear, to create a more seamless and modern shopping environment for customers.

A brand new hot and cold deli counter offers customers fresh food-to-go including sandwiches, salads and hot food, while shoppers can enjoy delicious, sweet treats from the new Moo’d ice-cream bar.

A new Frank and Honest Coffee dock offers shoppers a greater selection of hot drinks to takeaway. An environmental pledge is at the core of the gourmet coffee brand, featuring 100% compostable coffee cups, plastic free coffee capsules and Rainforest Alliance certified coffee beans. Shoppers can also benefit from the digital loyalty app which offers a free coffee after earning ten digital stamps.

To mark the occasion, the team welcomed Damien Hillen from the Southern Area Hospice and presented him with a £1,000 donation.

Commenting at the launch of the refreshed store, Declan Murphy said,

“Our Centra store has undergone a complete remodel and we are excited to show our customers the changes. The new deli and Frank and Honest coffee machine offers a greater range of food and drinks for our on-the-go shoppers, whilst the extended store provides convenience to our local customers with an expanded range of grocery options. We’d like to thank Damien for helping to open our store and welcome our customers.”

Further changes include new checkouts and self-scan kiosks to assist flow of traffic in-store and create efficiencies among employees.

Aligning with Musgrave Group’s sustainability goals, the updated store also features new LED lighting, refrigeration, digital screens, and Electronic Shelf Edge Labelling (ESELs) to reduce the store’s energy consumption and carbon footprint. In 2022, Musgrave Group announced its target of reaching Net Zero Carbon by 2040, and has committed a £3.6M fund to support retailers to upgrade their stores to achieve this goal.

Musgrave NI’s Retail Sales Director, Paddy Murney added:

“The Murphy’s newly refreshed and updated store in Newry will be a real asset to the local community as well as shoppers passing through, offering the height of convenience at great value. As part of Centra’s commitment to value, our shoppers will benefit from over 200 special offer items every week and over 300 cheaper own brand products. As well as our Epic Deal promotion on four big brand products, which change every three weeks.”

Centra is also committed to supporting local suppliers, with Musgrave NI spending more than £160m on local food and drink annually.

Paddy continued: “We work with more than 3,000 local farmers, partner with over 150 local suppliers and stock over 3,500 local products across our stores providing shoppers with the freshest produce and range of choice.”