The Restaurants Association of Ireland has announced their top 10 finalists in the “Foodie Towns” competition 2015.

In the search for Ireland’s premier food destination, applications from all over the country were thoroughly assessed and narrowed down by an independent panel of judges.

There was some tough competition this year, but based on the applications received, the top ten ‘Foodie Towns’ of Ireland in 2015 are as follows:

Boyne Valley

Derry

Dungarvan

Howth, Dublin

Kilkenny

Kinsale

Loop Head Peninsula

Sligo

The Burren

West Cork

Each of the ten finalists will now receive a pre-arranged visit by a pair of independent assessors in the coming weeks. This assessment will be combined with a national public voting campaign where the public can choose their winning foodie destination out of the ten finalists – this can be done through www.foodietowns.ie. Both components will carry equal weight in the overall score. The winning town/destination will be crowned ‘Foodie Town of Ireland 2015’ in October.

The ‘Foodie Town of Ireland’ award recognizes a destination that actively promotes itself through joint promotional activities such as food festivals, gourmet trails or farmers’ markets as well as great dining experiences. The winning Irish destination will have established a local producer/supplier network which is utilized and promoted by local businesses. Plans for future growth and investment into the food and hospitality industry at a local level will also be taken into consideration by judges. Education, training, development and employment will be key components of the ultimate foodie destination.

Anthony Gray, President of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, says that the rich landscape of the Irish culinary scene will provide an exciting battleground for the competition.

“This is an exciting time to be involved with the food and tourism industry in Ireland, and for local businesses to show the nation the pride they have in their communities. Winning the title of ‘Foodie Town of Ireland 2015’ will provide a competitive edge to towns and regions wishing to promote their areas to incoming tourists.

The quality of submissions this year was astounding, and all ten of the ‘Foodie Town’ finalists have something to be proud of for reaching the penultimate stage of the competition.”

The Public Voting Process

• A national public voting campaign begins today with each of the ten finalists canvassing the country to vote for them

• Online voting will take place via www.foodiestowns.ie from Friday 11th September at 12 noon

• Poster will be sent to each of the ten finalists to help them cavass their localities for support

• The final decision will be made by combining the judges’ votes with the public vote that carry equal weight – each of these components account for 50% of the overall mark a destination receives

• The ultimate ‘Foodie Town of Ireland 2015’ will be announced in October (date TBC)

For further information please see www.foodietowns.ie or contact the RAI at [email protected].

H/T: Budget.ie.