Major upgrade planned to Dundalk’s IMC Cinema with installation of Galactic auditorium

IMC Cinema in Carroll Village is set for a significant investment with a new Galactic auditorium on the way in the next few weeks.

The new Galactic auditoriums have earned rave reviews at other cinemas around the country for their comfortable reclining chairs, big screens and state of the art sound.

The new screen will be 60ft x 25ft and features Dolby Atmos sound technology with 40 speakers in the theatre, including some in the ceiling.

The new screen also employs new technology which improves light distribution and uniformity, providing more light to more seats. The 3D films will also have a deeper field of view, making pictures more realistic.

The new feature will have a cost, however, as shows on the Galactic screens carry a €1 premium on the ticket price.

The Ward-owned Irish Multiplex Cinemas Ltd doubled its profits last year to €850,379.

New figures lodged with the Companies Office show the firm recorded the sharp jump in operating profits after the company’s gross profits rose from €2.54m to €2.6m.

According to the directors’ report, the profitability of the company increased during the year as a result of management implementing cost savings.

The directors stated: “It is expected that trading in 2015 will not be significantly different to 2014.”

The directors also disclose that they have paid a dividend of €207,000 in April 2015 in relation to the year ended October 2013 and that they have deferred the decision on the payment of a dividend in relation to the year ended October 2014 until a later date.

The profit takes account of non-cash depreciation costs of €410,804. The firm is one of a number of Irish cinema firms operated by the Ward family who own Dublin’s Savoy and Screen cinemas, with the Savoy playing host to many movie premieres.

Ward also has cinemas in Dún Laoghaire, Tallaght, Athlone, Killarney and Ballymena.

Numbers employed by the firm last year reduced from 57 to 44 with staff costs reducing by 24.5% from €1.19m to €903,573.

The firm reduced its administrative costs from €853,723 to €705,117.

The new state-of-the art auditorium could be vital for the cinema in fending off competition from the new Dundalk Omniplex, which is due to open in the coming months at the former Harvey Norman store at Dundalk Retail Park.

Work is understood to have started on the facility in recent weeks.

Blackrock nominated for top tourism award

A view from Blackrock

Blackrock has been included on a shortlist of 15 towns and villages around the country being considered for the 2014 Tourism Towns Award – a competition aimed at recognising areas which go the extra mile to enhance their appeal to tourists.

Blackrock has been nominated in the ‘small town’ category, which will see it go up against the likes of Lismore and Ardmore in Waterford, Belmullet in Mayo, Carrick-on-Shannon in Leitrim, Portmagee in Kerry and the Cork trio of Glengarriff, Kinsale and Rosscarbery.

Kilkenny was last year’s overall winner and it is once again nominated in the ‘large town’ category along with Ennis, Cobh, Killarney, Westport and Trim.

Last year’s small town award went to Mulranny in Mayo.

The 15 towns will now be visited by a team of assessors who will look at how each town presents itself to visitors and tells its story. In particular, they will look for evidence of a high quality visitor experience and of involvement by the local community and businesses in delivering this experience. They will look at the quality of its attractions and sites of interest and how well the town promotes what they have to offer.

Paddy Mathews from Fáilte Ireland emphasised the important characteristics of a tourism town and the how the award scheme seeks to recognise them.

“These are towns that have already performed well in the Tidy Towns Competition in 2013, so we know that they are clean and well presented. Now we want to know how well they present themselves to their visitors.

“A great tourism town is one that provides visitors with an unforgettable experience. It is a town where the local businesses and the local community all contribute to shaping and delivering this experience. It also tells its story of its heritage and culture in an engaging way.”

Now in its third year, the award will continue to focus on how participating towns have developed their local area in the following key tourism areas:

• Sense of Place – How the town tells its own unique story to visitors, what’s special about it, and what distinguishes it from other towns.
• Local Involvement – How the local community works together to provide an authentic visitor experience.
• Tourism Products Available – What the town has to offer visitors.
• Development and promotion of the town – How the town takes a unified approach to marketing and developing the town into a “tourism town”.